'The greatest love story never told' comes to an end: 5 tell-tale signs which predicted the doomed Bennifer romance
Bennifer have officially called it quits. On August 20, Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from husband of 2 years Ben Affleck. Not many however, are surprised
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's great romance — 2.0 — has come to an end. Probably for good this time. JLo, 55, filed for divorce from the actor, 52, in a Los Angeles county superior court on Tuesday, August 20, what would have been their second wedding anniversary.
The official date listed for their separation was April 26 this year, thereby proving that all media and internet conjecture regarding there being trouble in paradise, was unfortunately bang on. Some events along the way in this regard, stuck out like a sore thumb, making news of the divorce filing, not all that surprising.
Ben a no-show at Met Gala
Met Gala 2024, just like every other year, was a grand affair. More so for JLo, who was among the eminent co-chairs for the evening. The singer walked the red carpet, solo, in a magnificent custom Schiaparelli Haute Couture gown, in icy silver. Ben's absence generated significant buzz. Though at the time the reason cited by his rep were "scheduling conflicts", with the date of their separation being April 26, the actor's absence from the red carpet gala, held on May 6, is self-explanatory.
Social media cues
With the internet still speculating over Ben's absence at the Met, JLo added fuel to fire, intentionally or not, by liking an Instagram post about how it is impossible to invest in "unhealthy relationships". The post detailed multiple pointers like communication skills, emotional safety and integrity as well as feeling disconnected from oneself. It is also worth mentioning that while now JLo has removed all memorabilia of Ben from her Instagram handle, at the time too, it had been a while since she had put up a lovey-dovey picture with her husband, quite commonplace for her.
JLo hires crisis PR
What really intensified the rumours of a split on the cards, was JLo's reportedly impromptu hire of a crisis PR manager. Incidentally, the reason cited for Bennifer calling off their wedding in 2003 was reportedly Ben being supremely uncomfortable with the intense media scrutiny of their very public relationship.
Coming back to the present, a Mirror UK report at the time also strongly suggested that in case a divorce was to go through, JLo would be hiring divorce lawyer Laura Wasser. Laura had represented Ben during his split with first wife and actor Jennifer Garner, as well as JLo during her split with third husband and singer Marc Anthony.
Ben moves out
In June, reports broke of Ben reportedly moving out of their shared residence and residing in a Brentwood property as a makeshift arrangement, which happens to be the same locality that ex-wife Jennifer Garner stays in, with the former couple's 3 children. Late July, incidentally, on the same day as JLo's 55th birthday, Ben as per multiple reports, locked down a $20.5 million Pacific Palisades property as his bachelor pad.
JLo turns 55 sans Ben
JLo's 55th birthday celebrations were a royal affair. Literally. The singer thoroughly embraced the Bridgerton theme as she regency-coded all her celebrations, complete with a custom Manish Malhotra ballgown, horse-drawn carriages and choreographed dances. Ben affirmatively gave this a miss.
Fast forward a few days, Ben turned 52 in a small, intimate gathering surrounded by his children as well as first wife Jennifer. JLo reportedly dropped by a for 5 hours, indicating that the now-former couple may just be wanting to keep things cordial.
A quick recap
Jennifer and Ben were professionally acquainted with one another before they officially struck up a romance in 2002 on the sets of their film Gigli (2003). Their whirlwind romance saw them get engaged the same year, set to tie the knot in 2003. They called off their wedding a mere 4 days ahead of their 'I do' moment, though they didn't call it quits yet. News of their first official split came 4 months after what would have been their wedding day, in 2004.
17 years later, the two connected once again in 2021, with Bennifer 2.0, following the blueprint of their previous relationship. By 2022 they were engaged, finally marrying one another on July 16 of the same year in an impromptu Las Vegas ceremony. A month later, they redid their ceremony in a much more grand garb for their family and friends at Ben's Georgia property. They had just come up on 2 years of their marriage, as JLo filed for divorce.
This marks Ben's second divorce and JLo's fourth.