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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are living proof that true love will always prevail. Or rather, they are proof that true love will prevail for a little bit, maybe, and then real life will happen and you might break up again. It’s a little unclear what’s going on with those two right now, but I’m choosing to view them as a testament to love. That’s what J.Lo would want! In case you don’t believe me, let’s take a walk through the timeline of Bennifer 2.0, one of the only good things to have happened in this country in the past five years.
The Gigli years
Ah, young love! We’re going to speed through Bennifer 1.0 because I imagine you’re familiar with the story. Lopez and Affleck met in earnest on the set of the notorious flop Gigli in 2001. Lopez was still married to her second husband, dancer Cris Judd, and both she and Affleck denied rumors that they had had an affair. A couple of months after wrapping the film, Lopez was separated from Judd and dating Affleck. You may remember what happened next.
There was the “Jenny From the Block” video, in which Affleck stars as himself; the 6.1-carat pink diamond he proposed to her with in October 2002 after three months of dating; Affleck serving as Lopez’s muse for This Is Me … Then. The couple even sat with Dateline in July 2003 to double down on their commitment to each other. However, the night that interview aired, Affleck was spotted at Brandi’s Exotic Nightclub in Vancouver, which seemed to be the beginning of the end. Gigli bombed at the box office that August, and in September the couple announced the wedding had been postponed due to “excessive media attention.” A few months later, they broke up.
Both parties went on to marry other people, have kids, and somehow sustain thriving careers. Fast-forward to the beginning of 2021, and they both seemed to be in great relationships: Affleck was with his pandemic sweetheart, Ana de Armas, and Lopez was engaged to her longtime partner, Alex Rodriguez. But then Affleck and de Armas broke up … and then Lopez and Rodriguez broke up … and then …
Was Bennifer back?
In early May 2021, Lopez sang “Sweet Caroline” at the Vax Live concert, where Affleck was also in attendance. This may sound like nothing, but it is actually an ancient mating ritual performed by besotted Red Sox fans. Her performance came on the heels of reports that she was having Affleck delivered straight to her door in a white Escalade, all but confirming Bennifer was back on. How did it start? Well, with the sexiest mode of communication, of course: email. Affleck reportedly started emailing Lopez in February (she was still with A-Rod, but … who is J.Lo to deny the call of true love?), and a few months later she was singing the song of Affleck’s people. Romance!
Bennifer was officially back
Things really ramped up for the couple in June 2021. They had their arms around each other at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant in West Hollywood. A source claimed Lopez would be moving to L.A. to get a “fresh start” with her new/old beau. Affleck was spotted hanging out with Lopez’s mom at a Vegas casino. All this and we still hadn’t seen the two smooching. Given their history of loving a little kiss, this was shocking. We didn’t have to wait long, though.
They made out at Nobu
Paparazzi caught Bennifer sharing not just a peck at Nobu Malibu but what was basically a full-on make-out session. If you’re a real perv, you can watch the video of this intimate moment, which I recommend only for the instance when their PDA is interrupted by one of their kids showing them something on a phone. You have to be so sprung to make out in front of your kids like that.
Finally, a hard launch
Something to keep in mind throughout all of this is that Lopez is a Leo. (So is Affleck, but he doesn’t have an Instagram.) Of course, she was going to wait to hard launch Affleck until she could combine it with her birthday post. Double the attention!
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This carousel is wild. Three regular sexy photos of Lopez and then, all of a sudden, there she is making out with Affleck. Is there a term for when a jump scare is a good thing?
More kissing!
Later in September, the couple spent some time in New York kissing in various locations. Most notably, they kissed while wearing their masks when attending the Met Gala, and they kissed their way through Madison Square Park. I will warn you right now, do not look at the Central Park photos if you are feeling even a little bit sad about Bennifer’s current relationship tensions. Two people have never looked happier, and if they can’t make it, it’s looking really bad for the rest of us.
They were in the market for bathrooms
In March 2022, Bennifer went into escrow on a house in Bel Air. These two were finally going to have a place to call their own, how lovely. One of the requirements for their new abode seemed to be that there wouldn’t be any issues if all the Boston Celtics needed to pee at the same time. This place had 17 bathrooms, so it was looking good. Ultimately, that wasn’t enough for them, and they wound up in a mansion with 24.
They got engaged (again)
A little more than a year after they started talking again, Bennifer got reengaged in April 2022. Affleck opted for a massive green diamond this time, just to change it up from the massive pink one he went with the first time around. In a newsletter, Lopez told her fans exactly how the proposal went down. She was in the bathtub when Affleck came in and popped the question. “I was taken totally off guard and just looked in his eyes smiling and crying at the same time,” Lopez wrote. “I was quite literally speechless and he said, ‘Is that a yes?’ I said, ‘YES of course that’s a YES.’” All my love to these two, but if I were being proposed to in the same room as a toilet, I would be asking for a redo. Lopez loved it, though.
After all these years, they finally got married
In a truly shocking twist, Bennifer got married just three months after their engagement in a casual Vegas ceremony. They waited in line with regular people, Lopez got changed in the staff break room, and they were even offered an Elvis impersonator (they declined). There were no celebs in attendance, no blurry drone footage of Lopez walking down the aisle, and none of the other couples at the chapel even snapped a photo (or if they did, an NDA was swiftly put in front of them). This was, magically, a completely private affair. Of course, Lopez told us all about it in her newsletter, but it’s nice that she got to do it on her terms.
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They honeymooned in Paris
A Vegas wedding followed by a honeymoon in Paris? That’s high-low, baby. The couple jetted off to the City of Love right after getting hitched, where they spent hours making out on a park bench, taking photos of each other, and, in her case, wearing beautiful outfits.
Another wedding, this time with a history lesson
Sorry, did you think J.Lo would be satisfied with just one low-key wedding? Let’s be real. She and Affleck had a second wedding ceremony in August 2022, this time a big blowout at Affleck’s house in Riceboro, Georgia. Well, I say “house,” but it’s a re-created “antebellum estate” on property that was once a plantation and is reportedly home to an unmarked slave graveyard. Not exactly the vibes for a wedding between a guy from Boston and his girl from the Bronx, but that didn’t seem front of mind for anyone present. Celebrity guests at wedding No. 2 included Matt Damon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Kevin Smith. In her newsletter, Lopez shared some photos of the wedding décor, which she said she designed herself. My personal favorite detail is the piece of wood that reads “Love Never Fails” in the “Live Laugh Love” cursive font. A nice reminder that she is corny and he just lets her do whatever.
That’s Mrs. Affleck to you
Lopez graced the cover of Vogue in December 2022 and discussed her decision to legally become Jennifer Lynn Affleck. “People are still going to call me Jennifer Lopez. But my legal name will be Mrs. Affleck because we’re joined together,” she said. “We’re husband and wife. I’m proud of that. I don’t think that’s a problem.” She continued, saying that taking her husband’s name “still carries tradition and romance” for her. And if there’s one thing J.Lo is about? It’s romance.
Miserable Ben returned
At the 2023 Grammys, we saw the return of a guy we hadn’t seen in a while: Miserable Ben Affleck. He couldn’t even muster a smile while watching Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson perform. It harked back to all those photos of him smoking while looking like the world had run him ragged. Later, he claimed he’d had a good time and explained that he went as Lopez’s plus-one because “it might be fun.”
Bennifer reached “matching tattoos on Valentine’s Day” levels of love
To celebrate their first Valentine’s Day together as a married couple, Lopez and Affleck got tattoos because this relationship is permanent … right? Lopez (bless her) shared shots of the couple’s ink in her V-Day photo dump, which included several cute pics of the couple on vacation, in their home, and back in the day.
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Her tat was an infinity sign with their names in it; his was two crossed arrows with their initials. Again, these two don’t exactly have “good taste,” but that’s why they’re perfect for each other.
Trouble in paradise — or was Ben just in a bad mood?
By May 2023, Bennifer had been back for two years. Now, of course, was when people were going to start looking for cracks. When the paparazzi caught video of Affleck aggressively slamming a car door behind Lopez, it was interpreted as a sign that the couple was on the rocks. Well, according to Lopez, we need not be concerned with Affleck’s mood.
In January of this year, a reporter on the Golden Globes red carpet asked Lopez why her husband always looks like he’s pissed. “You don’t need to worry about Ben. He is good, he is happy, he is here, he is nominated. He is like, I’m chilling,” Lopez told the reporter. Basically, that’s just what his face looks like.
This Is Me … Now threw Bennifer into an even more intense spotlight
I’m sure you recall that in February of this year, Lopez released a cinematic event called This Is Me … Now: A Love Story. There was also an album called This Is Me… Now, but the less said about that, the better. The film follows a fictional version of Lopez through her trials and tribulations as a love addict before she finally finds the One (Affleck on a motorcycle). The press around this was nuts. Lopez revealed that she had handed over Affleck’s private love letters to her collaborators, and the behind-the-scenes documentary showed everyone who had declined Lopez’s request to be in the movie. It also showed off how Bennifer was engaged in the ideal heterosexual relationship (she’s kooky, and he’s obsessed with her). God, we had fun.
Bennifer looked for bathrooms on the East Coast
Twenty-four bathrooms in Los Angeles wasn’t enough for these two. The couple were spotted looking at townhouses on the Upper East Side in April 2024. Hopefully, the couple knows they’ll never get dozens of bathrooms in New York, but the bodega will always be open for ham-and-cheese on a roll with an orange drink (if you know, you know).
Are Ben and Jen really headed for divorce?
In Mid-May, a source told In Touch that the “writing is on the wall” for America’s favorite couple: “It’s over.” Of course, this sent everyone into a tailspin. Could Bennifer really be falling apart in front of us? The anonymous sources sure had a lot to say about the matter.
“If there was a way to divorce on grounds of temporary insanity, he would,” one bitchy source told “Page Six.” “He feels like the last two years was just a fever dream, and he’s come to his senses now and understands there is just no way this is going to work.”
Another source told Us Weekly that Affleck was “worn down” by his marriage and that he “doesn’t agree with Jennifer’s lifestyle.” The Daily Mail pointed out that the couple had last been seen together 47 days earlier, when Affleck had his hand on Lopez’s butt on Easter Sunday. The evidence was mounting, and it was not looking good.
Ben maybe moved out?
These are all questions because, to be honest, none of us really knows what’s going on here. Multiple outlets reported that, as of May, Affleck had been staying at a rental property in Brentwood close to his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, who reportedly visited a few times.
But then they reconnected?
The couple were seen together for the first time in over a month when they both attended Affleck’s kid’s school play. (Oh, to be on the mom group chat!) TMZ reported that Affleck drove Lopez and one of her children back home after the show and then returned to his Brentwood rental. A few days later, the couple were spotted attending a movie event at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica before heading over to Soho House. This outing gave us at least one moment of levity: seeing that Lopez is “Jennifer Affleck” in her husband’s phone and that his contact pic for her is an airbrushed editorial photo. Why she might have been calling him while sitting in the passenger seat remains confusing.
So are things better?
Well, yes and no. Lopez canceled her This Is Me … Now tour, explaining that she would be “taking time off to be with her children, family, and close friends.” In her statement, Lopez wrote, “I am completely heartsick and devastated about letting you down. Please know that I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t feel that it was absolutely necessary.” Did she cancel the tour to save her marriage? Or were reportedly low ticket sales to blame? TBD.
Meanwhile, the anonymous tabloid sources have changed their tune a bit. “Jen and Ben’s relationship is not over yet, but they have been staying in separate homes and the tension has been high,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. “They are taking a second to figure out what each of them is going through and wants. Both of them have been very down.”
One insider told People that the source of tension in their relationship came from their different approaches to attention. “Ben hates all attention and it makes him very uncomfortable,” the source said. “Jennifer has always had a different approach.” A different source told the tabloid that Lopez’s “always sharing her life is not his way.”
Related
- Is Bennifer Really Headed for Divorce?
- J.Lo and Ben Affleck Have Never Been Low-Key
- We’re Getting Women’s Ambition All Wrong
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Olivia Craighead , 2024-06-04 23:49:47
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