Michelle Obama and Jennifer Lopez, two female powerhouses in their own right, paid tribute to another icon on Tuesday during an Instagram Live for National Voter Registration Day. The pair spoke
about the importance of voting during Obama's Registered and Ready Instagram Takeover event, a day-long initiative for her When We All Vote organization. Their conversation turned to the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the role her legacy plays in this election.
"Barack and I were privileged to call her a friend," Obama said. "We had dinner with her and her husband (Marty, who passed away in 2010). We would see her almost every holiday—just an amazing force of a woman. I have always been moved by her story of how she had a family, raised a family, then went back to law school, and faced a level of discrimination. . .(She was) top of her class and came in guns blazing, but she was cast aside. Women during those days were often segregated within the law firms that were hiring them. After all that she had done, there were some people who said, 'Well you can't practice law.'"
Obama also reminded viewers that the Supreme Court's future hangs in the balance following Ginsburg's death. "To think about how far she had to come and how hard she fought to make sure we that had the rights that we deserve to protect our interests as women, to protect our rights to control our bodies, that is the legacy," she explained, later adding, "The Supreme Court determines the most impactful laws in the land. Voting rights, equal rights, criminal justice, LGBTQ+ rights, abortion rights—all of it happens at the Supreme Court and these are lifetime appointments. So we have lost a true champion and it hurts. But it also really amplifies why everyone within the sound of our voices makes their vote and their voice heard."
Lopez slyly referenced Ginsburg giving "some good marriage advice" to herself and fiancé Alex Rodriguez. Last year, Ginsburg recalled the relationship tips she gave J.Lo and A-Rod during a visit the couple paid her. “I was called up about a month or so ago by Jennifer Lopez, and she said she would like to meet me and introduce her fiancé Alex Rodriguez,” she said during the Library of Congress National Book Festival in 2019, adding that they had a “very nice visit” and Lopez “wanted to ask if I had any secret about a happy marriage."
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) on
Ginsburg, who was married to husband Marty for 56 years, continued, "Now, A-Rod is traveling with her to concerts with her all over the world. On the day I was married, my mother-in-law—I was married at her home—she took me aside and said she wanted to tell me what was the secret of a happy marriage. And I said, ‘I’d be glad to hear it. What is it?’ And she responded: ‘It helps, sometimes, to be a little deaf.’”
On Instagram, Lopez remembered this moment in a tribute to the late Ginsburg. "I will always remember what she said to us the day we met her: 'Be the best you,'" she wrote. "It was simple yet profound. Thank you RBG for fighting all these years. We will honor you by continuing to fight for equality, empathy and justice for all. ?"