Jennifer Lopez
The love story with Ben Affleck is incredible for her too
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in Italy in September 2021.
© imago images/ZUMA Wire
First “Bennifer”, then separation: Jennifer Lopez is surprised that she is now married to Ben Affleck.
An incredible love story for “Bennifer”
When asked about her love story, Lopez admits in an interview with “Welt am Sonntag” that she would have rejected a film role a few years ago if her agent had introduced her to an engagement with such a story. “I would have said: Something like that could never happen. Never,” says the 54-year-old. And further: “Well, this love story between Ben and I is pretty incredible. And it surprised no one more than myself.”
Lopez and Affleck met in 2002 while filming their film “Love with Risk – Gigli”. Then everything happened very quickly. The two were given the double name “Bennifer” and became one of the big couples in the dream factory at the time. That same year he asked for her hand in marriage; everything seemed perfect.
But the media hype surrounding the couple was so difficult for the two of them that they had to postpone their planned wedding in 2003, and a short time later they broke off their engagement and separated. With a simple “yes” Lopez confirms in the interview that the media’s treatment of “Bennifer” ruined the relationship. The singer explains: “You know, when you’re younger and all this stuff is so important to you, that kind of attention can really hurt you. It can traumatize you and destroy you.”
The unexpected happy ending for Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
After the separation, however, the stars remained on friendly terms, even though they entered into other marriages and had children. Affleck married his fellow actress Jennifer Garner in 2005, with whom he has three children. They separated in 2015 and the divorce was finalized in 2018. Lopez married Marc Anthony (55) in 2004. The singer gave birth to twins in 2008. The couple separated in 2011 and eventually divorced in 2014. In 2021, Lopez and Affleck finally made their big public romantic comeback. They got married unexpectedly in Las Vegas in the summer of 2022. Lopez and Affleck tied the knot at the famous Little White Wedding Chapel.
Today the two have grown up, as Lopez now says. And they approach the media completely differently than they did around 20 years ago. As you gain experience and know what’s important in life, “things like that no longer affect you in the same way they did back then. Ben and I are adults now. We know what’s important.” What was supposed to remain private, the two of them now kept private. “We also have to lead a life without constantly being in the public eye, not always just being public figures. We both now know how we can manage that.” Both Affleck and Lopez simply “learned to deal with it.”