What we know about Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's divorce
Second time round, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck couldn't make it work as JLo has filed for divorce. Even with hindsight and more experience on their side, it wasn't meant to be.
JLo and Affleck had one of the most famous romances in the world, with the couple becoming known as Bennifer when they first fell for one another in the early 2000s. What made it even more astonishing was the couple decided to give their love a second chance nearly 20 years later.
Their story has been plagued with rumours of a split for months now and tabloids flooded with pictures of Affleck looking sad. Now the open secret is out, Lopez has filed for divorce.
We take a look at the couple’s marriage ending, the biggest heartbreak first time round, their estimated net worth and how they will split their assets.
Read all full breakdown of the story, or click below to skip ahead
> Bennifer's biggest heartbreak
> Who are Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez
> What went wrong for Ben and Jen?
> How will Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez split their assets?
Bennifer and the biggest heartbreak
Bennifer was the name given to the couple when they dated for the first time in the early 2000s. Their 18-month relationship which started in 2002 and came to an end in 2004 was widely covered in the newspapers.
They called off their first wedding, just days before the ceremony was meant to take place in 2004 citing "excessive media attention" as the reason. They dated for four more months before parting ways and it would be another 20 years before they would be back in each other's arms.
Reflecting, Lopez said she thought she was going to die from "the biggest heartbreak" of her life when they split up the first time. "It was so painful after we broke up," she told Zane Lowe for Apple Music in 2022. "Once we called off that wedding 20 years ago, it was the biggest heartbreak of my life. And I honestly felt like I was gonna die. It sent me on a spiral for the next 18 years."
She added: "But now, 20 years later, it does have a happy ending. It has the most, would-never-happen-in-Hollywood ending. They would be like 'that would never happen so we're not gonna write that because nobody would believe it' ending."
The singing superstar put their relationship ending down to external pressures, including the media and the public. "It destroyed us," she said. "That was part of what destroyed us, was the outside energy that was coming at us."
After the first break up, they would go onto marry other people. Lopez would marry singer Marc Anthony in 2004 and they had twins together. 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 it was all over in 2015 after a decade together.
Who are Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck?
Lopez, also known as JLo, is arguably most well known for her singing career and her song Jenny from the Block. The music video for the song stars the famous couple parading their romance on an idyllic yacht back in 2002. In the video, the singer gifted Affleck a watch and it's believed he wore the very same item years later when they reignited their romance.
JLo's first big career break came through acting though as she landed the lead role in 1997 biopic Selena which told the story of Selena Quintanilla-Perez's extraordinary life. It spelled a big change for the star as she became the first Latina actress to earn $1m for a movie role.
"I feel like everyone was making a statement," she told Variety in 2019 of the change. "It was a Latin movie, starring a Latin girl, playing a Latin artist and a Latin director [Gregory Nava]. And it was like, 'She’s worth this.' It was a statement to the world." However, she was overlooked for an Academy Award. She added: "We were sad we weren’t nominated for an Oscar. But at the end of the day, it made the impact it needed to make."
It was through acting that JLo and Affleck would come into each other's lives and everything would really change forever. Sparks flew on the movie set of Gigli, the film was a flop but their romance blossomed off set. However, their romance did too breakdown and would fail again 20 years later.
Affleck reflected on the "depressing" reaction to Gigli in a 2022 interview with his friend Matt Damon. Despite the reaction to the film though, the actor said the "disaster" spurred him on with his Hollywood career and of course it was the way he met JLo. He told Damon for Entertainment Weekly: "But for being a movie that's such a famous bomb and a disaster, very few people actually saw the movie."
Of the reaction, he added: "It was depressing and really made me question things and feel disappointed and have a lot of self-doubt. But if the reaction to Gigli hadn't happened, I probably wouldn't have ultimately decided, "I don't really have any other avenue but to direct movies," which has turned out to be the real love of my professional life. So in those ways, it's a gift. And I did get to meet Jennifer, the relationship with whom has been really meaningful to me in my life."
What went wrong this time?
After years apart, Bennifer was back on in 2021 and it was the love story that the world was talking about. Affleck and Lopez went public with their reunion at the 2021 Venice Film Festival's premiere of The Last Duel. There had been weeks of speculation, from kissing on yachts to pictures of the couple holding hands before they took their love to the red carpet again. Back in 2022, Lopez told PEOPLE: "It's a beautiful love story that we got a second chance."
Their romance was just as fast second time round, with the couple announcing 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 told her fans via her newsletter of the news: "We did it. Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient."
Talk of a divorce has been on the cards after being on the rocks since May. Affleck failed to be there to support Lopez, for her movie Atlas and then the singer walked the red carpet alone for the Met Gala. Only on matters of their families were they reunited. After time apart they were together again for Affleck's daughter Violet's high school graduation. But in July, Affleck was a no-show at Lopez's 55th Bridgerton-themed birthday party. They were quiet on the second wedding anniversary, having tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2022.
Yahoo has reached out to Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's representatives for further comment.
JLo and Ben Affleck's net worth and how will they split assets?
Once Hollywood's golden couple, it's no surprise they have huge net worths behind them. JLo's 2024 net worth is reported to be $400m. Forbes named Affleck on their list of highest paid actors in 2023 with earnings of $38m last year. So it begs the question, how will the couple split their assets?
It has been reported that Lopez and Affleck have no prenup in place. Lopez had changed her name legally to Affleck. The exes had put their Beverly Hills home up for sale for $68 million in July this year, only adding fuel to the fire of the break up rumours.
Buffy Wood, associate at Collyer Bristow, told Yahoo: "It is surprising that the high-profile couple would not enter into a pre-nuptial agreement ahead of their marriage, which is likely to mean that their finances are much more vulnerable on divorce.
"Pre-nuptial agreements are becoming more and more common as couples, particularly with pre-marital wealth or expected inheritances, seek security and protection ahead of their marriage. Although from an English perspective, pre- and post-nuptial agreements are not legally binding, they can still carry great weight with the courts, who will seek to uphold them as much as possible if they are generally fair and have been negotiated and signed in the right circumstances."
What is next for Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck?
It was announced in July that Affleck is set to star in a new movie thriller RIP with his bestie Damon which will be available on Netflix. They have a lot of working history together, first teaming up for Good Will Hunting in 1997. As good friends, Damon will be there for Affleck as he navigates life after the split.
Affleck's last movie appearance was in JLo's This is Me... Now: A Love Story. JLo spent $20m 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 released earlier this year.
Read more: What critics are saying about Jennifer Lopez’s movie This Is Me...Now
It took fans behind the scenes of their highly publicised story and shared their 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 "chaotic". JLo cancelled the This Is Me... Live in May.
Will Lopez be inspired to write about the heartbreak second time round?
