JLo and Ben Affleck file for divorce after 2 years of marriage
The “Bennifer” love story that first blossomed more than two decades ago has come to an end.
On Tuesday, Jennifer Lopez, 54, filed to divorce Ben Affleck, 51, in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to court filings obtained by USA TODAY. Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the estranged couple’s Georgia wedding ceremony. TMZ and Variety report their date of separation as April 26.
TMZ was first to report the news. USA TODAY has reached out to reps for Affleck and Lopez for comment.
This was the second marriage for Affleck and the fourth for Lopez. The two were engaged to each other twice: first in 2002 then again in 2021.
JLo, Ben Affleck sparked speculation of their split earlier this year
Lopez’s filing comes after several months of fan and media speculation as she and Affleck started appearing in public solo.
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At the May 6 Met Gala in New York City, Affleck was absent as Lopez performed her duties as one of the event’s co-chairs. The night prior, Affleck participated in Netflix’s “The Greatest Roast of All Time: The Roast of Tom Brady” in Los Angeles, and Lopez did not seem to be in attendance.
The separate appearances happened while Lopez was reportedly filming “Kiss of the Spider Woman” in New Jersey and Affleck was in Los Angeles filming “The Accountant 2.”
On May 16, Lopez and Affleck were photographed together for the first time in over a month, each spotted wearing their wedding rings. Since then, they have been spotted together a handful of times while also reportedly no longer living together.
JLo and Ben Affleck’s relationship, from 2002 to 2024
The two hit it off after meeting in 2002 on the set of the rom-com “Gigli,” when Lopez was married to her second husband, Cris Judd.
After Lopez and Affleck called off their engagement, blaming too much media attention, in January 2004, the “This Is Me… Now” singer went on to marry Marc Anthony later that year. The couple welcomed twins Max and Emme in 2008. They divorced in 2014. Affleck married fellow actor Jennifer Garner in 2005 and had three children together: Violet, Fin and Samuel. The two divorced in 2018.
In March 2019, Lopez got engaged to MLB star Alex Rodriguez, but they officially called it quits in April 2021.
When Affleck and Lopez were spotted together several times following JLo and A-Rod’s split, the rumor mill churned with speculation that “Bennifer” was making a comeback. Lopez put the rumors to rest in July 2021 when she went Instagram official with Affleck for her 52nd birthday.
The couple started showing up to major events together and sharing PDA at places like the Venice Film Festival and the 2021 Met Gala.
In April 2022, Lopez revealed she and Affleck were again engaged, this time with a rare green diamond ring. (Affleck proposed with a now-famous pink diamond engagement ring two decades prior.)
Several months later, Lopez revealed a surprise for fans in her On the JLo fan newsletter: that she and her fiancé got married in a late-night ceremony in Las Vegas on July 16, 2022 – and that it was “the best possible wedding we could have imagined.”
“We did it,” she wrote. “Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient.”
A month later, they exchanged their vows again at a more formal wedding ceremony at Affleck’s property outside of Savannah, Georgia.
As 2024 got underway, speculation about whether the two were on the outs started bubbling up as they continued to make public appearances without the other.