The second time around, things didn’t work out between Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, and JLo filed for divorce. Even in hindsight and with more experience on her side, it was clear that it wasn’t meant to be.
JLo and Affleck had one of the most famous love stories in the world. The couple became known as Bennifer when they first fell in love in the early 2000s. What was even more amazing was that almost 20 years later, the couple decided to give their love a second chance.
Their story has been plagued by rumors of a breakup for months, and tabloids are flooded with pictures of Affleck’s sad expression. Now the open secret is out: Lopez has filed for divorce.
We take a look at the end of the couple’s marriage, their biggest heartache the first time, their estimated net worth, and how they will divide their assets.
Bennifer and the greatest heartbreak
Bennifer was the name given to the couple when they first got together in the early 2000s. Their 18-month relationship, which began in 2002 and ended in 2004, was widely covered in the newspapers.
They called off their first wedding in 2004 just days before the ceremony was due to take place, citing “excessive media attention.” They were together for four months, but then split up and it took another 20 years before they were in each other’s arms again.
Looking back, Lopez said she thought she was going to die of “the biggest heartbreak” of her life when they first broke up. “It was so painful after we broke up,” she told Zane Lowe for Apple Music in 2022. “When we called off that wedding 20 years ago, it was the biggest heartbreak of my life. And I honestly felt like I was going to die. It sent me into a downward spiral for the next 18 years.”
She added: “But now, 20 years later, it has a happy ending. It has the ending that would never happen in Hollywood. They would say, ‘That would never happen, so we’re not going to write that because nobody would believe it.'”
The singing superstar attributed the end of their relationship to external pressures, including media and public pressure. “It destroyed us,” she said. “That was part of what destroyed us, the outside energy coming at us.”
After the first split, they married other people. Lopez married singer Marc Anthony in 2004 and they had twins. Their marriage ended in 2014. She got engaged to New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez before rekindling her romance with Affleck. Meanwhile, Batman actor Affleck married Jennifer Garner and they had three children together, but in 2015, after a decade, it was all over.
Read more: Jennifer Lopez on what she told herself during her first breakup with Ben Affleck: “It’s going to be better than you think. So just hang in there.”
Who are Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck?
Lopez, better known as JLo, is perhaps best known for her singing career and her song “Jenny from the Block.” The music video for the song shows the famous couple in 2002 romance on an idyllic yacht. In the video, the singer gifted her lover a watch, and it is believed that he wore the same piece of jewelry years later when their romance rekindled.
However, JLo’s first big break came as an actress when she landed the lead role in the 1997 biopic “Selena,” which tells the story of the extraordinary life of Selena Quintanilla-Perez. This marked a major change for the star, as she became the first Latina actress to earn $1 million for a film role.
“I feel like everyone was making a statement,” she told Variety in 2019 of the change. “It was a Latin film with a Latin girl in the lead role, a Latin artist and a Latin director (Gregory Nava). And it was like, ‘She’s worth it.’ It was a statement to the world.” However, she was passed over for an Oscar. She added, “We were sad that we weren’t nominated for an Oscar. But at the end of the day, it had the impact it needed.”
Through acting, JLo and Affleck entered each other’s lives and everything changed forever. Sparks flew on the set of Gigli. The film was a flop, but their romance blossomed off the set. However, their romance fell apart and failed again 20 years later.
Affleck spoke about the “depressing” reaction to Gigli in a 2022 interview with his friend Matt Damon. Despite the reaction to the film, the actor said the “disaster” spurred him on in his Hollywood career and that, of course, it was how he met JLo. He told Damon to Entertainment Weekly: “But even though it’s a film that’s such a famous flop and a disaster, very few people have actually seen it.”
About the reaction, he added: “It was depressing and really made me question things, be disappointed and have a lot of self-doubt. But if the reaction to If Gigli hadn’t happened, I probably wouldn’t have finally decided, ‘I have no choice but to make films,’ which turned out to be the true love of my professional life. So in that sense, it’s a gift. And I met Jennifer, and that relationship has really had a lot of meaning in my life.”
Read more: Jennifer Lopez files for divorce from Ben Affleck after 2 years of marriage: A timeline of their problems
What went wrong this time?
After years apart, Bennifer was back together in 2021 and it was the love story the world was talking about. Affleck and Lopez made their reunion public at the premiere of The Last Duel at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. There were weeks of speculation, from kissing on yachts to pictures of the couple holding hands before they took their love down the red carpet again. In 2022, Lopez told PEOPLE, “It’s a beautiful love story that we got a second chance.”
Their romance was just as fast the second time around, and the couple announced their engagement in 2022. They married in a small ceremony in Las Vegas before celebrating with family and friends in Georgia. The singer wore three Ralph Lauren wedding dresses. JLo shared the news with her fans via her newsletter: “We did it. Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years of patient.”
Rumors of a divorce have been rife since May. Affleck was absent to support Lopez in her film Atlas, and then the singer walked the red carpet at the Met Gala alone. They only reunited on family matters. After some time apart, they were back together at Affleck’s daughter Violet’s high school graduation party. But in July, Affleck did not show up at Lopez’s 55th Bridgerton birthday party. They were quiet on their second wedding anniversary after they married in Las Vegas in 2021.
Yahoo has contacted representatives for Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck for further comment.
Read more: Jennifer Lopez officially files for divorce from Ben Affleck after a difficult few months. What went wrong?
JLo and Ben Affleck’s net worth and how will they divide their wealth?
They were once Hollywood’s golden couple, and it’s no surprise that they have a huge fortune. JLo’s net worth is expected to be $400 million in 2024. Forbes has put Affleck on its list of highest-paid actors for 2023, with earnings of $38 million last year. So the question is how the couple will divide their wealth.
It was reported that Lopez and Affleck do not have a prenuptial agreement. Lopez had officially changed her name to Affleck. The exes had put their Beverly Hills home up for sale for $68 million in July this year, which only further fueled the fire of separation rumors.
Buffy Wood, an employee at Collyer Bristow, told Yahoo: “It is surprising that the celebrity couple did not enter into a prenuptial agreement before the wedding, which would likely mean their finances would be much more vulnerable in the event of a divorce.
“Prenuptial agreements are becoming increasingly common as couples, particularly those with pre-marital assets or expected inheritances, seek security and protection before they marry. Although pre- and post-nuptial agreements are not legally binding from an English perspective, they can still carry great weight with the courts, which will try to uphold them as far as possible if they are generally fair and have been negotiated and signed in the right circumstances.”
What’s next for Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck?
In July, it was announced that Affleck will star alongside his best friend Damon in a new thriller called RIP, which will be available on streaming giant Netflix. The two have worked together extensively, first teaming up for Good Will Hunting in 1997. As good friends, Damon will be there for Affleck as he navigates life after the breakup.
Affleck’s last film appearance was in JLo’s This is Me… Now: A Love Story. JLo spent $20 million of her own money to tell her love story with Ben Affleck in a Prime Video documentary: The Greatest Love Story Never Told, a newly released album, and her musical film This is Me… Now: A Love Story, all of which were released earlier this year.
Fans were given a behind-the-scenes look at their highly publicized story and were shown the private love letters they exchanged with each other. The musical film was a flop, with critics questioning JLo’s project and some writing it was “messy.” JLo canceled This Is Me… Live in May.
Will Lopez feel inspired to write about this grief a second time?
Read more: What critics say about Jennifer Lopez’s film This Is Me…Now
