Jennifer Lopez has been dropped by her record label, Sony’s Epic Records, according to a report from Deadline.com’s Nikki Finke. The once-hot singer-actress had begun to stage her musical comeback late last year when she released a new single, “Louboutins,” and then fell while singing it at November’s American Music Awards. (See: the photo at left.) Now, if this latest report is to be trusted (and EW has calls/emails in to her management, label, and personal reps to confirm), Lopez’s seventh studio album, LOVE?, will not hit stores in April as was previously the plan.
Finke cites insiders who said that Lopez’s last two singles (“Louboutins” and “Fresh Out the Oven”) fulfilled the contract she had with Epic Records and LOVE?—which was said to feature productions by everyone from The Neptunes to Darkchild—was never even finished. Lopez’s manager Benny Medina confirmed the split via statement to Finke: “Jennifer had a wonderful relationship with the Sony Music group, and they have shared many successes together, but the time was right to make a change that best serves the direction her career as an actress and recording artist. She is grateful and appreciative to everyone Sony for all that they accomplished together.”
Apparently, Lopez is in talks with music industry heavyweight L.A. Reid to join his Island Def Jam label. Plus, she’s still set to host Saturday Night Live this coming weekend. Although, now it seems she doesn’t even have an album-in-the-works to pimp during the monologue. Should she possibly just pursue a talk-show gig instead? Weigh in below, Music Mixers. [Source]