Jennifer Lopez pushes for Alex Rodriguez to stop being a baseball ‘pariah’

Jennifer Lopez reportedly wasn’t happy that fiance Alex Rodriguez talked too loosely and insultingly about Kylie Jenner, Idris Elba and other celebrities they shared a table with at the Met Gala in May.

In an interview for a recent Sports Illustrated cover story, Rodriguez claimed that lipstick mogul Jenner talked at the table about how “how rich she is.” The former New York Yankees slugger also referred to Elba as “the black guy from ‘The Wire,'” and misidentified Lopez’s good friend, fashion designer Donatella Versace, as “a singer.”

“J.Lo was incredibly upset at Alex because she expected him to know better,” a source told Fox News.

Lopez also may have been annoyed because she has clearly put a lot of work into helping Rodriguez rehabilitate his reputation. The Sports Illustrated story, headlined “The Improbable Reinvention of A-Rod” was supposed to help with that effort, but his careless comments about Jenner, Elba and the others became the focus of headlines, forcing Rodriguez to issue a public apology.

Rodriguez’s public image was badly damaged after he became one of the most high-profile faces of Major League Baseball’s steroids scandal. The 14-time All-Star was suspended for the 2014 season for violating MLB’s performance-enhancing drugs policy. In a 2017 interview, he acknowledged that his use of the drugs had cost him his reputation, $40 million and possibly his place in the Hall of Fame.

Lopez made her rebranding efforts for A-Rod clear when she took to Instagram last week to post a link to a USA Today story, which, like the Sports Illustrated profile, argues that her fiance is no longer the disgraced cheater who is being shunned by fans and the sports world.

Instead, the story argues, Rodriguez is in the midst of a comeback that “stretches the imagination to the outreaches of absurdity.” The story is headlined: “After years as a pariah, Alex Rodriguez has become MLB’s most popular resource.”

“So proud of the man you are and the man you are becoming everyday,” Lopez captioned her Instagram post.

The story offers up various examples about how Rodriguez has overcome his ignominy enough to become an increasingly beloved and “omnipresent” figure in American sports and pop culture. The 43-year-old offers sports commentary for ESPN and Fox, appears as a panelist on “Shark Tank,” and cracks jokes with Jimmy Fallon on the “Tonight Show.”

Perhaps, most astonishingly, he has become Lopez’s stylishly hunky escort to the Met Gala, the Oscars and the Emmys since they began dating in 2017. The man who reportedly brooded during his 162-game drug suspension, launched lawsuits and blamed everyone but himself for his troubles has become the affable boyfriend who good-naturedly follows his girlfriend around as she conquers the red carpet.

Lopez and Rodriguez’s carefully curated Instagram posts further work to burnish Rodriguez’s reputation by showing images of him as the loving partner and devoted patriarch to the couple’s newly blended family.

Thanks to Lopez, people see Rodriguez getting down on one knee to propose marriage on the beach at sunset, or helping her and their combined four children decorate Christmas trees.

With these images, it’s easy to forget that Rodriguez was dogged by infidelity rumors during his first marriage or that he was reportedly immersed last fall in a nasty legal battle with his ex-wife Cynthia Scurtis over cutting his child support payments for their two daughters.

Back in the baseball world, it’s an ongoing debate whether players who used performance-enhancing drugs should be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. But that hasn’t stopped Rodriguez from getting back in with his former colleagues. “If you really want whacky,” USA Today said, he has become a consultant and mentor for players, managers, general managers and owners throughout the league.

Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf told USA Today that he sees why A-Rod’s comeback efforts are working.

“I think he realized he made a mistake, and he wasn’t going to let that define his life,” Reinsdorf said. “People are entitled to have a chance to redeem themselves, and rather than feeling sorry for himself, he recognizes it was his fault and is not going to blame anyone for it.

“The thing about Alex is that he is smart,” Reinsdorf continued.  “His best thing is he knows what he doesn’t know, and asks for people’s advice, and ask for help.”

In an example of Rodriguez understanding understanding his limits, he told Sports Illustrated that Lopez has helped him with his PR.

“She knows how to communicate to the masses in ways I never will,” he said. “She helps me out all the time when I’m trying to land a point on something. She’s just a wordsmith.”

Rodriguez wrote “Thank you baby,” in the comments section of her Instagram post about the possible end of his pariah status.

Fans agree that Rodriguez’s reputation rehab would not have progressed as far as it has without Lopez by his side. On her Instagram post, one wrote: “Jlo makes Arod likeable.”

Another said: “He’s a man of his own popularity but has reached more people with you by his side!! #powercouple.”