Enrique Iglesias and Aaliyah ‘Were Close Friends,’ Says Jennifer Love Hewitt: ‘He Was Really Crying’
Hewitt recalled filming a music video with Iglesias the night he learned of Aaliyah’s death
Enrique Iglesias was heartbroken by Aaliyah’s death.
On Friday, May 31, a social media fan page dedicated to the late singer shared a clip of Jennifer Love Hewitt discussing a little known fact about the friendship between the Spanish entertainer, 49, and the “More Than a Woman” songstress.
“Oh, Enrique! Oh, this is such a good mashup, guys,” Hewitt, 45, said in a clip reposted by Aaliyah Legion on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Jennifer Love Hewitt reveals Aaliyah & Enrique Iglesias were actually close friends. The night they filmed the “Hero” music video, Enrique was actually crying during his crying scenes due to the news of Aaliyah’s passing. pic.twitter.com/iv58SyHyvi
— AALIYAH LEGION (@AaliyahLegion) May 31, 2024
The video showed the actress appearing on Entertainment Tonight Retrospective, watching herself starring as Iglesias’ love interest in the music video for his 2001 single “Hero.”
In the ballad, there is an emotional scene where he cries as Hewitt holds him.
“The craziest thing about that video shoot that I don’t know if people know, is that Enrique and Aaliyah were close friends,” she said.
“And the night that we filmed that video, was the night that she passed. And so Enrique had to film that, like all of his crying stuff in the video was filmed and he was really crying because she had passed,” Hewitt explained.
The Client List alum added that the cast and crew “all did a big prayer for her at the end of the video.”
She recalled Iglesias dedicating it to the singer and said the evening was “really intense.”
Aaliyah died at 6:45 p.m. ET on Aug. 25, 2001. She was 22 years old.
The singer had been shooting a music video to her song “Rock the Boat” in the Bahamas and was heading back to Miami with seven others when the small, twin-engine Cessna they were traveling on crashed into a swamp shortly after takeoff.
In an August 2021 interview with Entertainment Tonight,, Aaliyah’s former boyfriend, Damon Dash, reflected on their relationship on the 20th anniversary of her death.
The hip hop mogul, who co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with JAY-Z, said Aaliyah always had a fear of flying. He also claimed to have heard rumors that Lenny Kravitz, who lives in the Bahamas, offered Aaliyah a different plane, but music video director Hype Williams took it instead.
Authorities identified the other passengers who were killed as Scott Gallin, 41; Keith Wallace, 49, of Los Angeles; Douglas Kratz, 28, a representative for Virgin Records, and makeup artist Eric Foreman, 29, both of Hollywood, Calif.; Gina Smith, 29, of New Jersey; and Christopher Maldonado, 32, of New York. The plane’s pilot, L. Marael, also died in the crash.
Aaliyah was the niece of Gladys Knight, and began performing professionally at the age of 11. By 15, she’d released her first album, Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.
Just before her death, her single “Try Again” received a Grammy nomination for best female R&B vocalist.
