Jennifer Lopez is currently making headlines for her recent rare red carpet appearance with her 17-year-old twins, Emme and Max, at the New York City premiere of her latest movie, Kiss of the Spider Woman. She shares the twins with her third ex-husband, singer-actor Marc Anthony, to whom she was married from 2004 till their split in 2014.
At the event, Lopez was dressed in a green, off-the-shoulder, full-length floral dress by Harris Reed, which featured a spider-like structure extending from her waist. Emme was clad in a red velvet suit jacket over a black satin shirt and black pants, while their brother, Max, sported a dark, tri-color jacket over a crimson sweater vest and khaki slacks (via E! News).
Jennifer Lopez with her kids at the premiere of ‘KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN’ pic.twitter.com/dPZSPErqjv
As rare as this public outing was, it has inevitably drawn attention to the young twins and their parents. Lopez once told PEOPLE about the two, “It’s unconditional love. I know everybody feels this way about their kids, but I just feel like they’re super special. I can’t wait to see what they do.” Here’s all we know about the singer’s twins.
All We Know About Jennifer Lopez’s Twins, Emme and Max
Maximilian “Max” David Muniz and Emme Maribel Muniz were born on 22 February 2008 to Jennifer Lopez and her then-husband, Marc Anthony. With the gradual passage of time, the duo has developed their own respective interests, personalities, and talents. As Lopez told PEOPLE,
They’re venturing out, they’re being their own people, and it’s us just trying to keep up. That’s the journey of it [and] another path you have to go own. It’s a joy for me.
As a hands-on mother to the pair, Jennifer Lopez has never hesitated to talk about her two beloved children. So, from her words, here’s all we know about them.
Emme and Max Have Grown Up in the Spotlight
The children of two of the most iconic names in Hollywood’s entertainment industry, Emme and Max, have grown up in the spotlight and come to truly understand the extent of their parents’ fame. At the premiere of her 2023 film The Mother, the stunner addressed the stress her kids must have dealt with growing up as the famous kids. She told PEOPLE,
I think it’s a lot for them. And they didn’t ask for it. But they handled it with a lot of grace. And I try to make it as good as I can for them. But they’re lovely. And they’re lovely and I try to give them as great a life as I can give them.
But while the twins are certainly “proud” of their mother’s career and all she has established to date, they also don’t hold back from any criticism. As Lopez candidly confessed to Variety in February 2024, Emme and Max claimed they liked her older music better than her newer albums after she played her 2002 album, This Is Me… Then, for them at home.
They said, ‘Is this you, Mommy?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, this is an album I did 18 years ago.’ I played them another song and asked them if they liked it, and they said yes, and I said, ‘I wrote this.’ And then they’re like, ‘Yeah, we like this more than the music you make now.’ Ouch. But a good ouch.
Plus, the two have also scored some pretty cool experiences with their mother, all thanks to her career and fame. Like how Emme and Lopez stepped out together earlier this year, in March, for the opening night of William Shakespeare’s Othello
Jennifer Lopez’s Twins Are Homeschooled
Although they have grown up in the spotlight, Jennifer Lopez chose to homeschool her kids. This is because her top priority is “being there with” her children as they grow up. The singer took this decision to have them join her on tours, at residencies, and on trips for appearances and filming, even when people didn’t quite agree with her decision. She told Fox 5 New York (via PEOPLE),
Everybody’s like, ‘You should have them in school, they need friends.’ It drives me – it can drive you crazy. They are super happy, well-adjusted, loving, caring kids, and that’s the most important thing. We’ll get them educated – homeschool is great for them, when we have to do it. The most important thing is that they’re with their mom — that they don’t feel abandoned by a parent.
Moreover, while spending time together with them as their mother, because she loves them, was one thing, Lopez also shared how she wants Emme and Max to know that “loving yourself is so important,” too. For her, it’s important for her kids to love themselves so that they can feel that love going forward in their future relationships as well. She told PEOPLE,
Little key things like your thoughts create your life so to think positive, that all their feelings are okay and that people should always treat you well, and you’re not a victim to anybody… I want [the kids] to know where I got to very recently: If you’re good on your own, you really can have a beautiful relationship. But until then, you’re probably going to struggle through it and try to find it.
As she emphasized, Lopez wants her kids to love themselves first in the hope that they will eventually be able to have “healthy relationships” – not just with her and each other, but with their friends and eventual romantic partners as well. After all, it is said that you attract what you exude, so hopefully, this might work in their favor as well!
Max Inspired Jennifer Lopez to Speak Out Against Injustice
Iconically enough, Jennifer Lopez proved that it’s not always parents who teach their kids; sometimes, kids can give some pretty important lessons too. For one, she was inspired by her son Max to speak against injustice during the George Floyd protests in 2020. She confessed to Elle in 2021,
He wanted me to make sure I realized that I had power and that I should use it, and I thought that was very insightful. It was one of those parenting moments when you’re like, ‘Oh, maybe I’m raising a conscientious, kind, loving kid here.’
Notably enough, she even took part in a protest that was being held in Los Angeles, alongside her then-fiancé Alex Rodriguez. She carried signs that read “Black Lives Matter” and “Let’s Get Loud for Black Lives Matter,” which her young twins helped her make.
Emme Is a Singer and Author Like Her Mother
Just like her mother, Emme is proving to be a pretty multi-talented individual as well. Might we remind you, at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2020, Jennifer Lopez wasn’t the only one who performed as Emme also stunned fans by taking the stage and belting out Let’s Get Loud alongside their mother.
They told PEOPLE at the time about if performing was nerve-wracking for them, saying,
I just don’t overthink it. I get up there and do it.
Plus, like Lopez, Emme has also penned a book, Lord Help Me. And yes, they’re very much still only 17! Explaining to PEOPLE how her mother and twin brother are “all really proud of me,” they said,
I really hope children are able to learn to pray, share the book and spread the power of prayer after reading it.
Emme identifies as non-binary and prefers they/them pronouns. Lopez herself has publicly supported Emme’s identity, introducing them with gender-neutral pronouns (via HOLA!).
Plus, Emme and Max Have a Big, Blended Family
When it comes to love, despite their divorced parents, both Emme and Max have grown up surrounded by tremendous love and care. Besides their one older half-sister and three older half-brothers through their father, the twins also gained three new step-siblings – Samuel, Seraphina, and Violet – when Jennifer Lopez got hitched to Ben Affleck.
At the time, Lopez commented to Vogue how they were handling the transition of blending their families with “so much care,” sharing,
What I hope to cultivate with our family is that his kids have a new ally in me and my kids have a new ally in him.
That’s something they sure did, for Affleck has been seen in all smiles around both his own kids as well as his stepkids. The twins were the ones to help Affleck and Lopez with their wedding as well. Even after Bennifer 2.0 split up, finalizing their divorce in January 2025, a source told PEOPLE that their kids still “love spending time together.”
And besides, the two also share a special bond as twins. As Emme told PEOPLE while chatting about their family dynamics, “Max and I have a special relationship. Since we were very little, I could always understand him when no one else could.” So that’s that about Emme and Max, too!
Who Is Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez’s Ex-Husband and Her Twins’ Father?
Marc Anthony is a Grammy-winning record artist and actor of Puerto Rican descent, just like his ex-wife Jennifer Lopez. A Latin singer, he is known as the top-selling tropical salsa artist of all time. While he shares twins Emme and Max with Lopez, Anthony also has two sons, Cristian and Ryan, from a previous marriage to Dayanara Torres.
The pair first met in 1998, when he was in the Broadway production of The Capeman. They reconnected around six years later, and reportedly began to date in 2004 before marrying in a private ceremony that year. Four years down the line, they welcomed their twins in 2008. But their marriage couldn’t last too long after that, as the couple reportedly separated in 2011 before officially getting divorced in 2014 (via TODAY).
Despite their divorce, both Lopez and Anthony have maintained an amicable relationship, even collaborating on a Spanish-language album in 2017 titled Por Primera Vez. Not to mention, Lopez has also credited Anthony with helping her confidence as a singer (via E! News).
Besides, the two actively co-parent their twins, and both have spoken publicly about the importance of their co-parenting relationship and have remained close friends. If anything, their kids’ well-being is a priority to them, and the two often even attend events like their children’s school concerts together, showing a united front (via Harper’s Bazaar).
All of this said, Emme and Max certainly appear to be happy in their big, blended family, with a very loving mom who can gush on for hours and hours about them. What do you think about this? Got something to say about this story or add to it? Make sure to let us know in the comments section below!
