Ben Affleck breaks silence on Jennifer Lopez divorce
Ben Affleck is ready to talk about the end of Bennifer 2.0.
The "Accountant 2" star, 52, broke his silence about his divorce from Jennifer Lopez in an interview with GQ published Tuesday. He said he has "nothing but respect" for the "Jenny from the Block" singer and stressed that there was no single, dramatic event that ended their marriage.
"There's no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue," he told the outlet. "The truth is, when you talk to somebody, 'Hey, what happened?' Well, there is no: 'This is what happened.' It's just a story about people trying to figure out their lives and relationships in ways that we all sort of normally do. And as you get older, this is true for me, I assume it's true for most people, there is no 'So-and-so did this' or 'This was the big event.'"
He continued, "It's really, it sounds more like a couple's therapy session, which — you would tune out of someone else's couple’s therapy after a while. For one thing, you start going, 'Okay, clearly this person has got these issues. Clearly they have these issues.' And the reason I don't want to share that is just sort of embarrassing. It feels vulnerable."
But Affleck said that while there is "a tendency to look at breakups and want to identify root causes or something," the truth of his split from Lopez "is much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting."
The Oscar winner also reflected on his participation in Lopez's 2024 documentary "The Greatest Love Story Never Told," which was released in conjunction with her album "This Is Me… Now." In the film, Affleck expressed reservations about letting the public in on their relationship, saying in one scene, "It's the greatest love story never told, and if you're making a record about it, that seems kind of like telling it."
Speaking to GQ, Affleck acknowledged that "my temperament is to be a little bit more reserved and private" than Lopez. At the same time, he emphasized that this isn't what led to their split.
"I think it's important to say that wasn't the cause of some major fracture," he said. "It's not like you can watch that documentary and go, 'Oh, now I understand the issues that these two had.'"
Affleck and Lopez met working on the romantic comedy "Gigli" and got engaged in 2002, but they called off the wedding in 2003, citing excessive media attention. They both went on to tie the knot with and split from other people, with Lopez marrying Marc Anthony in 2004 and Affleck marrying Jennifer Garner in 2005. Lopez also got engaged to Alex Rodriguez in 2019, but they did not marry.
Almost two decades after their split, Affleck and Lopez rekindled their relationship in 2021 and tied the knot the following year. But in 2024, the "Jenny from the Block" singer filed for divorce from Affleck in Los Angeles Superior Court on their second wedding anniversary. The date of separation was listed as April 26, and the divorce was finalized this January.
In May, Lopez canceled her summer North American tour, saying she would be taking time "to be with her children, family and close friends." She said at the time she was "completely heartsick and devastated" but would not "do this if I didn't feel that it was absolutely necessary."
In a conversation with Nikki Glaser for Interview Magazine in October, Lopez opened up about feeling like her whole "world exploded."
"When your whole house blows up, you're standing there in the rubble going, 'How do I not ever let that happen again?'" she said. "And then you start examining it little by little saying, 'Okay, I did this, this was my part in it, this was what I should have seen early on, this is what I didn't look at.' Those things are what really are the lessons."
But Lopez continued that she is "capable of joy and happiness all by myself," adding, "Being in a relationship doesn't define me. I can't be looking for happiness in other people. I have to have happiness within myself. I used to say I'm a happy person, but was still looking for something for somebody else to fill, and it's just like, 'No, I’m actually good.'"
Affleck reflected on dating in a red carpet interview with USA TODAY earlier this month while discussing his role in "The Accountant 2."
"Relationships are complex and fraught and full of a kind of coded language that we use, and they're hard for everyone to figure out," he said. "And that's why I think this movie touches on some really universal, accessible things that I find really moving, funny, beautiful, and I hope audiences do, too."
Contributing: Erin Jensen