Usually if we’re talking about Jennifer Lopez and tips we’re talking about hair care updates or skin tips or sometimes even booty balm, but in the case of a TikTok that was recently going viral again, we’re talking about literal tipping practices. According to one woman on TikTok, Ben Affleck’s a great tipper. JLo? Not so much.
A previously created TikTok has been running around again in recent weeks about Bennifer (before their first break-up). In it, a woman who claims to work in Las Vegas says that JLo is “garbage” and stingy. Basically, her story is that a former co-worker moved into a cocktail waitressing position in Vegas and spent an entire shift working for Ben Affleck -- no other tips coming from elsewhere -- only to be blocked out of a great tip from the actor thanks to his then-girlfriend, "Jenny From The Block" singer Jennifer Lopez.
@eriugrainne ♬ original sound - Penny
In the video, a woman explains that Ben and JLo were in Vegas during the tenure of their first relationship. (They would later marry in Sin City.) He was gambling the whole day at a table and was allegedly taken care of by a woman the TikToker knows. By the end of his gambling run, the pop singer had shown up and was reportedly unhappy when the Goodwill Hunting star tried to leave an extravagant (but not unwarranted in Vegas) $10K tip. She said:
My cocktail server, her name was Tiff, Tiffany, he wound up sitting at the poker table for her entire shift. Plus she stayed an extra hour and a half over… he was very happy with her service, so at the end of her shift she went to tell him that she was leaving, and he said, ‘Thank you very much.’ Well, Jennifer had come in by that time and was standing behind him. As Tiffany was telling him goodnight and thank you very much and everything … he put $10,000 dollars on her tray. Jennifer immediately snatched the money, said, ‘Aww hell no,’ took it back.
The TikTok personality went on to describe Ben Affleck as “mortified,” according to the impressions of the cocktail waitress, who also told her pal that she later received a letter of apology, flowers and a $25K tip from the star. In short, according to the social media user, Affleck is a great tipper; Lopez is not.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this was a secondhand story from a former co-worker of the Las Vegas employee in question. It also needs to be noted this alleged incident happened the first time the couple was dating in 2004, which would be around 20 years ago at this point.
To finally note, the person involved in the incident was reportedly asked by management not to say anything publicly at the incident. Clearly, however, she mentioned it privately to the TikTok user, who had no such qualms with ratting out Jennifer Lopez. The TikTok user, Penny, also shared with a commenter:
It wasn’t a good situation. She was pulled into HR to get the flowers and envelope. She was told not to tell the story to the media.
These days, Affleck and Lopez are happily married and just bought their dream home for millions of dollars. Things have changed for the couple, and perhaps so have Lopez's tipping practices. However, I do think it spurs an interesting conversation about celebrities and tipping. This is also a favorite topic over at Reddit, where varying threads have praised some celebrities and not others. (Taylor Swift is allegedly very generous; Kendall Jenner not so much.)
What’s the expectation for celebrity tippers? Is the “correct” tipping of 20% OK for celebrities, or do people feel that since celebrities theoretically have more they should tip more extravagantly for meals and on other occasions? I used to be a bartender and I never begrudged people not tipping on tax, but not everyone felt that way that I worked with. So, when people say celebrities are poor tippers, what is it the expectation? How “poor” is a “poor” tip? I’m honestly curious how people feel about this.
Still, I guess there is a moral to this story and it’s very clear: Don’t do your server dirty, because the Internet is forever.
