Hustlers: Real-life woman portrayed by Jennifer Lopez says star 'betrayed' her in 'inaccurate' movie

The woman whose story inspired Hustlers has criticised Jennifer Lopez’s portrayal of her life, claiming the actor “betrayed” her in the film.

Lopez portrays Ramona Vega, a character based on Samantha Barbash, in the movie – which itself is based on a 2015 New York Magazine article.

Hustlers tells the story of a group of strip club employees who steal money from rich Wall Street workers by charging their credit cards while they’re under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

While the film has received acclaim from critics as well as the public, racking up $40m (£32m) at the worldwide box office, Barbash slammed its depiction of real-life events in a recent interview with TMZ.

She claimed that she declined to sell her film rights due to the amount of money she says was offered to her.

“They pretty much, basically, stole my story. I wouldn’t sign my rights away,” she said. “I wasn’t giving up my film and TV rights for peanuts. J-Lo doesn’t work for free. Why would I?”

Barbash said the film’s production contacted her lawyer, but criticised Lopez for not getting in touch with her directly.

“J-Lo betrayed me since she didn’t even reach out to the woman that she’s portraying,” she said.

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Barbash pointed to specific moments that bothered her in the film.

“There’s a part that she’s cooking drugs in a stove with her daughter there,” she said. “First of all, it’s just not an accurate movie.

“People are going to see the movie because J-Lo’s on a stripper pole. I don’t even know how to do a – I’ve never been on a stripper pole like that in my life.”

Barbash said she wishes Cardi B (who has several cameos in the movie) had portrayed her instead of Lopez.

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She made similar comments in an interview with Vanity Fair, telling the magazine she “wasn’t really that impressed” with the film – though she did praise Lopez’s work on that occasion.

“I was impressed with Jennifer,” she said, “She was incredible. Her body looked incredible. She had it down to a T, but it wasn’t factual.”

The Independent has contacted a representative of STXfilms, the movie’s distributor, for comment.

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