Marc Anthony says enough

Marc Anthony kicks off his Vegas residency, Vegas… My Way!, this coming Friday. It’s a fitting title for his show, considering that the phrase “My Way” in pop culture is typically associated with Frank Sinatra who of course was the king of Las Vegas in his prime – and Marc has long been referred to as the “Latin Frank Sinatra”. That link is to a NY Times article from 2010 and in the 15+ years since, Marc has added more dimension to that comparison in terms of career longevity and his status among Latin artists.

In her piece yesterday about Bad Bunny’s Benito Bowl, Violeta actually referenced one of Marc’s songs, “Tu Amor Me Hace Bien”, calling it one of her “favourite songs of all time”, and she had no advance notice of me writing this post because Marc’s new interview with The Hollywood Reporter was published well after her article went up. But he showed up in her personal essay because Benito was honouring his culture, and many of the Puerto Rican artists who came before him and, naturally, Marc Anthony is part of that conversation even if he wasn’t on the field in person.

Marc talked to THR about Benito’s performance, about how he proud he was to see Benito highlight their community in the most joyous way possible:

“I sure did watch the Super Bowl. It was a proud moment all the way around. Here’s a gentleman who is not only a great friend of mine, but I’ve known him since before he even started in music. Bad Bunny is proud of his culture, proud of everything that we as Puerto Ricans offer as a people. And he chose that platform to not serve himself but just serve the greater good and just instill a little pride in all Latinos at this moment, especially at this moment. Our culture was always worthy of celebration. I could not have been prouder of the fact that he took that opportunity to celebrate the little idiosyncrasies of what it’s like to be Latino. I was clapping at the TV.”

Like Violeta and so many people in the Latin community, the sight of the child sleeping on the chairs really resonated with him:

“That’s what it was! We used to go to house parties and we’d run around with our cousins and we’d sleep under the coats, on top of the coats, until our parents were ready to go home. Little nuances like that brought a smile to my face, and I’m sure to anybody who’s experienced it. It just took me back.”

Benito was highlighting a specific experience from his own youth, recognisable to someone like Marc, but also to someone like me. Because I too fell asleep on coats while waiting for my ma to finish playing mahjong, sometimes at dawn. Once again, what’s specific is universal.

So it was nothing but appreciation and respect from Marc for Benito – but not all his answers were soft. And I’m grateful to him for his response when asked about those who are bitching about the Benito Bowl because for the last 24 hours, it’s been annoying to see various media outlets focusing on the reaction from the haters and the losers. Why? How is it newsworthy? They were never going to get it, and it was never for them to begin with. Marc, then, gets it right when he says:

“I did not see what Trump said about [Bad Bunny’s] performance and I don’t give a sh-t.”

That is correct.

Now to the gossip, and there’s double. In text it reads like Marc had an edge when he was asked about Jennifer Lopez, and whether or not she gave him any advice for his Vegas residency which… I can see why the reporter wanted to wedge a question in there about JLo but I don’t know if this was the right angle because here’s what Marc said:

“No. I don’t need advice from Jennifer as far as concerts are concerned. I’ve seen her residency, as well. No, she hasn’t.”

I mean, Marc’s not wrong. See the start of this post about his status in the industry, how long he’s been performing, and how successful he’s been. Why would he need advice from JLo? I repeat, maybe his tone was different in person but the way it reads, it’s a bit testy, and of course it’s no secret that they didn’t have the most amicable of breakups. They’re cordial now, but this was never a divorce that was ever characterised as “consciously uncoupled”.

Speaking of awkward family dynamics, Marc’s been in the gossip cycle the last few weeks because he’s involved in another family drama – occupying a central position in the Beckham mess, because he was presiding over the festivities when whatever it was went down during the first-dance-but-third-dance situation that resulted in Nicola Peltz bursting into tears when Victoria allegedly acted inappropriately with Brooklyn.

This is exactly what we wanted from the reporter! Here’s Marc’s response:

“I have nothing to say about what’s happening with the [Beckham] family. They’re a wonderful, wonderful family. I’ve known them since before the kids were born. I’m godfather to Cruz. I’m really close to the family. But I have nothing to say about what happened there. It’s extremely unfortunate how it’s playing out — but [how it’s playing out] is hardly the truth.”

Marc doesn’t say much, there’s not that much detail here, but it’s enough for a takeaway. If he’s doing all that setup about how tight he is with David and Victoria and the kids, and the history he has with them, it’s probably safe to assume that his version of events doesn’t line up with what Brooklyn and Nicola have put out there.

Click here for more of Marc in THR.