Ginsburg: J.Lo asked for marriage advice

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she recently shared her mother-in-law’s marriage advice with  celebrity fiancés singer Jennifer Lopez and baseball star Alex Rodriguez. 

Lopez had reached out to see if she could meet Ginbsburg and introduce Rodriguez, Ginsburg told a packed crowd of about 4,000 people Saturday during the Library of Congress’s National Book Festival. 

The celebrity couple came to Ginsburg’s Supreme Court chambers a few months ago, Ginsburg said. 

“She mostly wanted to ask if I had any secret about a happy marriage. But now A-Rod is traveling with her to concerts all over the world,” Ginsburg said. {mosads}

NPR’s Nina Totenburg asked Ginsburg what advice she shared. 

“Did you pass on your mother-in-law’s secret?” Totenburg asked. 

“On the day I was married, my mother-in-law – I was married in her home – she took me aside and said she wanted to tell me what was the secret of a happy marriage,” Ginsburg said. 

“It helps sometimes to be a little deaf.”

The justice said she’s used that advice in “every workplace, including the good job I have now.” 

The question came up after Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden told the audience Ginsburg asked to be introduced as the “J-Lo of jurisprudence” rather than the “Beyoncé” as some of called her. 

Ginsburg, 86, was married to her husband, Marty, for over 50 years until he died in 2010. 

During her wide-ranging interview Saturday Ginsburg recalled her early years or marriage – including balancing motherhood and battling sexism and anti-Semitism when entering the workforce. 

The justice also welcomed her unlikely status as a cultural icon in her 80s. 

She said it makes sense that she is called the “Notorious RBG” in reference to rapper Notorious BIG, and thinks they have at least one thing in common. 

“We were both born and bred in Brooklyn, New York,” Ginsburg said.