India Snubs Jennifer Lopez: Cricket Organisers Drop J-Lo after 'Diva-Like' Demands

Plans to bring Hollywood actress and singer Jennifer Lopez to perform at the opening ceremony of Indian Premier League (IPL; a professional Twenty20 cricket championship in India) have reportedly been cancelled because the 43-year-old star's camp made "unreasonable demands".

The Mail believes the diva's manager, Benny Medina, demanded a private plane and also that hotel expenses during her stay in the country be funded by the organisers. In addition, they were also asked to pay for personal stylists and a chef. The New York Post confirms the organisers have roped in rapper Pitbull as a last-minute replacement.

"She effectively priced herself out of the event. It was an idiotic move because the audience for this event is huge. It's like the Super Bowl halftime show," a source told the NY Post.

A measure of the size of the potential audience for the opening performance of the IPL (now in its sixth season) is the fact that Katy Perry, who performed last year, did so to 56 million people. However, a representative for Lopez denied she was dropped by the IPL organisers and said the singer's busy schedule meant she could not perform at the event.

"An offer was made to perform; the date conflicted with Jennifer's current music-recording schedule for an album due this summer," the representative told the NY Post.

This is not the first time Lopez has made such demands. A former American Idol Judge, the Latin American was rumoured to have put her deal with the show in jeopardy for similar reasons. According to reports, she demanded more than $20m (roughly £13.2m) a year, apart from a personal team of hair and make-up artists and a "dressing room compound". Ahead of an interview with the BBC, she reportedly asked for nine dressing rooms for her 90 staff members.