JLo ‘the revenge divorce diva’ had every right to tell me to take the day I made a plan to meet her. But she didn’t… and she quickly became my favorite celebrity

Fans are calling Jennifer Lopez ‘childish’ after her ‘revenge divorce’ from Ben Affleck on the couple’s second wedding anniversary.

But my unexpected meeting with JLo To this day, it remains one of my most cherished celebrity encounters, even after she berated me for the way I approached her.

In August 2016, I was on vacation in New York City and decided to meet Lopez, one of my all-time favorite singers.

She was in town to film Shades of Blue with Ray Liotta.

If you know anything about JLo, you know she’s pretty routine. Every morning before 6am she’s either in the boxing gym or training, and then it’s time to go.

And since her gym is just a stone’s throw from her apartment, she walks a lot, which gave me an idea.

I admit some people might find it a little creepy, but I thought, why not run into her on my way to the gym?

What’s wrong with a little casual fan moment? I mean, it’s not like I’d pay $2,000 for a meet-and-greet—although I did do that once for Britney Spears, no shame in that!

Fans have called Jennifer Lopez ‘petty’ after her ‘revenge divorce’ from Ben Affleck on the couple’s second wedding anniversary. The couple pictured in March

But my unexpected meeting with JLo remains to this day one of my most cherished celebrity encounters — even after she berated me for the way I approached her. Pictured: Ali Daher and Jennifer Lopez in 2016

My girlfriend and I couldn’t figure out which gym she went to that morning, so we played it safe and waited near her apartment.

What we didn’t know is that her driver had been watching us for hours and had already warned her that there were fans nearby.

About an hour later I saw her.

There was JLo, walking straight toward me with a friend in tow. I was only a few feet from her front door when she called me and my friend in for “a chat.”

I’ll be honest: she wasn’t happy.

I was on vacation in New York City in August 2016 when I decided to meet Lopez – one of my favorite singers of all time. She was in town to film Shades of Blue with Ray Liotta

My girlfriend and I couldn’t quite figure out which gym she was going to that morning, so we played it safe and waited outside her apartment. Little did we know, her driver had been watching us for hours and had already warned her

She asked us what we wanted and when I explained that I was a big fan from Australia and wanted to meet her, she didn’t hesitate for a moment and told us that her house was off-limits to fan meetings.

And honestly, I get it. She told us, ‘I’d love to meet you all over town and take pictures and sign everything you have at another event, but this isn’t the time and place.’

Totally understandable, right? But here’s the thing: Most celebrities would have sent a personal assistant or security guard to deliver this message. Not JLo.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get near her dressing room. She was busy filming an outdoor scene with Ray Liotta, and although I made eye contact with her a few times, she kept raising her finger to indicate ‘wait a minute’. Pictured with Ray Liotta

She did it herself, and that’s something I have deep respect for. She even suggested that I meet her on set, which was a much better option.

Her assistant said that if we waited, we might be invited into her trailer to say “Hi” while she was filming. So we Ubered across town, hoping to catch her on set.

Unfortunately we couldn’t get near her dressing room.

She was busy filming an outdoor scene with Liotta and although I made eye contact with her a few times, she kept raising her finger to indicate that she wanted to “take a look.”

This happened two or three times and each time I waited with anticipation, but inside I started to give up on taking a selfie with her.

As the crowd around the set grew, security began to move people around. But then something unexpected happened.

One of the security guards pointed at us and walked us into her dressing room. A moment later, JLo herself stuck her head out and told us she would be there shortly

One of the security guards pointed at us and led us to her dressing room.

A little later, JLo herself stuck her head out and told us she would be with us shortly.

She wore a casual outfit of sequined sweatpants, a cropped sweater and sunglasses, and she still looked like a true superstar.

When she came over, she gave us a friendly lecture about how this was the right place to meet her on set, and not outside her house – before taking a photo with me

She even signed a photo and two of my DVDs. Pictured

When she came by, she gave us a gentle lecture about how the right place to meet her was on the set, and not outside her house.

But then she took pictures with us, signed everything we had and even sent her regards back to Australia.

It was an incredible moment and honestly, being put in my place by JLo was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had.

I will always love J. Lo — even if fans call her ‘petty’ after her ‘revenge divorce’ from Ben Affleck