Hollywood actress and popular singer Jennifer Lopez will not be performing with Indian stars at the opening ceremony of the sixth season of the Indian Premier League.
Juhi Chawla, actress and co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), earlier in March announced that JLo would be performing, but the deal fell apart after her camp demanded a private plane for the singer, the New York Post reported.
Benny Mediana, JLo's manager, asked the organisers to arrange a private plane for the superstar and also pay for the hotel rooms for her entourage, which includes a chef, assistants and her stylists.
IPL organisers refused to fulfill the singer's demand and instead booked rapper Pitbull for the opening ceremony.
"The demands made on behalf of Jennifer were outrageous. 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. Last year it drew 56 million viewers," a source told NY Post.
However, her representative has said that JLo is not performing in Indian because she is busy with her current music recording schedule for an album that is due this summer.
This year, the IPL ceremony will be held on 2 April at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata. The opening ceremony is hosted by the team that won the last season.
Bollywood celebrities from Deepika Padukone, Shahrukh Khan and Katrina Kaif among others are set to perform at the opening ceremony.
The sixth season will start from 3 April with a match between KKR, which is co-owned by Shahrukh, and Delhi Daredevils.
