Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s ‘weird’ explanation for split 20 years ago is being re-examined in light of divorce filing
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck broke up in 2003 just three days before their Malibu wedding.
And during her documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told, the pair discussed why they went their separate ways. Now that discussion is being re-examined in light of the 55-year-old singer’s divorce filing on Tuesday.
In the film, Lopez and Affleck said that their relationship hit a wall due to public ‘scrutiny.’
Fans felt like that was a ‘weird’ excuse as the two courted fame: he starred as a boy toy in her Jenny From The Block music video and they made two movies together: Gigli and Jersey Girl.
‘They all blaming the public for splitting up but it was dem fault – they r weird,’ remarked one fan on X after the documentary was released.
They also shared that they were both mad at themselves for walking away from their epic love story two decades ago as she shed tears while appearing very vulnerable.
An explanation for why they have split this week after old two years of marriage has yet to be offered from the A list stars.
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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck broke up in 2003 just three days before their Malibu wedding. And during her documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told, the pair discussed why they went their separate ways
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Now that discussion is being re-examined in light of the 55-year-old singer’s divorce filing on Tuesday
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck release documentary on their romance
The Atlas actress shared in the documentary about the 2003 split, ‘Ben and I, we broke up three days before our wedding.
‘We had a big wedding planned…14 ushers and bridesmaids, and three days before we just crumbled under the pressure.’
Ben then said, ‘When Jen and I broke up before, the catalyst for that was the massive amount of scrutiny around our private life.’
The couple was known as Bennifer and were often the cover subjects of tabloid magazines as they worked together and also hit several red carpets side by side.
‘For all those years it was really hard, because I didn’t just feel like I lost the love of my life, I felt like I lost the best friend that I ever had.
‘And I couldn’t talk for so many years, and that was the hardest part,’ Jennifer said.
Ben then asked her, ‘I think for us to move on from that, we have to forgive it, forgive each other. Do you forgive me?’
Jennifer then smiled.
She later said, ‘That heartbreak set both of us on a course to figuring ourselves out and to being better people.’
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In the film, Lopez and Affleck said that their relationship hit a wall due to public ‘scrutiny.’ Fans felt like that was a ‘weird’ excuse as the two courted fame: he starred as a boy toy in her Jenny From The Block music video and they made two movies together: Gigli and Jersey Girl.
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Affleck, left, and Lopez appear at the premiere of their film Gigli, in Los Angeles in 2003
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She flashed her pink diamond at the premiere of Daredevil in Los Angeles in 2003
‘Do you think you’ve forgiven me all the way?’ he questioned, to which she responded through tears, ‘Yeah, I think I’ve forgiven you all the way. I think I need to forgive myself some things.’
Jennifer’s decision to release her Amazon Prime documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, in February, which chronicled her love story with Ben, seemingly put a strain on the pair’s marriage.
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Lopez was seen shopping in Los Angeles on August 17, just days before she filed for divorce
The candid show was the third part of her very public $20 million tribute to Ben, which also consisted of This Is Me… Now: A Love Story, a semi autobiographical ‘musical rom-com action sci-fi’ film and her single, This Is Me… Now.
The source said: ‘Ben would never try to stifle [Jennifer]’s dreams or tell her she can’t do something that advances her career, even though she can be quite controlling of him.’
They detailed the highs and lows of their rekindled romance in the new documentary, with Ben revealing he initially asked his wife to keep their relationship offline when they decided to give things another ago.
While navigating their reconciliation, two decades following their first engagement, the two-time Oscar winner admitted he had zero interest in becoming a fixture on his wife’s social media accounts.
‘Getting back together, I said, “Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media,”‘ the actor recalled.
‘Then I sort of realized it’s not a fair thing to ask. It’s sort of like, you’re gonna marry a boat captain and you go, “Well, I don’t like the water.”‘
He continued: ‘We’re just two people with different kinds of approaches trying to learn to compromise.’
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An explanation for why they have split this week after old two years of marriage has yet to be offered from the A list stars.; pictured together at the Mother premiere in May 2023 in LA
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The duo married in a Las Vegas ceremony in July 2022, followed by a lavish wedding at his Georgia estate on August 20, 2022 (pictured)
Ben didn’t want his love letters to Jennifer being made public in her documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told – but insiders claimed it wasn’t because he had kept them a secret from his ex-wife.
Jennifer Garner’s fans were left outraged after Affleck revealed he clung onto his correspondence with Lopez during his 13-year marriage — and later had the letters and emails bound into a book given to the Jenny From The Block singer when they reunited in 2021.
But insiders have quashed any notion that the admission shocked Garner, insisting she is happy for Affleck and Lopez — whom she is friends with — and is also at peace in her relationship with John Miller.
During the documentary, Lopez stated: ‘This book is a book Ben gave me on our first Christmas back together. It is every letter and every mail that we wrote each other from 20 years ago and today.’
She highlighted one note that read: ‘The Greatest Love Story Never Told by Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck 2001-2010… and counting…’
The exes have two more movies to promote: Unstoppable and Kiss Of The Spider Woman.
