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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were some of the iconic celebrity couples. Nearly 20 years after first making headlines and earning the nickname “Bennifer,” the have made it official by getting married in Las Vegas followed by a celebration at Ben’s Riceboro, Georgia estate with family and friends in August 2022. But their love didn’t last endlessly, as Jennifer filed for divorce from Ben in August 2024. Discover every thing it’s worthwhile to learn about Bennifer from their first romance to their eventual breakup below.
How Did Ben & J.Lo get together?
Ben and Jennifer’s romance began while they were each working on the movie Gigli in 2002. While the 2003 romcom was removed from a success, it did result in the leads striking up a romance on-set, which led to the couple making their debut in 2002. “We met at a few parties. We barely paid any attention to one another,” Jennifer said during a 2003 Dateline interview for the movie. “We became friends first.”
Gigli wasn’t the one movie that the couple made together! The pair also co-starred within the 2004 movie Jersey Girl, which was one other box office flop. The movie didn’t come out until March 2004, just a few months after the pair had officially split up.
Their First Engagement
During Bennifer’s first time as a pair, they were quick media darlings! They got engaged in late 2002, with Ben popping the query with a PINK ring, value a reported $2.5 million. Their relationship continued to be a significant public interest, with the pair frequently appearing in tabloids. Ben was featured in J.Lo’s video for “Jenny From The Block,” and her This Is Me…Then record featured a lot of songs inspired by her fiancé, including “Dear Ben.”
The Breakup
Because the pair were preparing to tie the knot in September 2003, they decided to place the marriage on hold. “Attributable to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding, we’ve decided to postpone the date,” the pair told People in a joint statement. The couple officially split just a few months later in January 2004.
Marriages & Relationships
After their split, Ben and Jennifer each moved on to different relationships. Each of their marriages after they called off their engagement can be long-lasting for each of the celebs! J.Lo married Marc Anthony in June 2004. Jennifer and Marc had twins Max and Emme, each 14, in 2008. The “I’m Real” singer ended up splitting from Marc in 2014. Ben began dating Jennifer Garner in August 2004, and the pair got hitched in 2005. They share three kids: Violet, 16, Seraphina, 13, and Samuel, 10. Ben and the 13 Going On 30 star ended up splitting up in 2018.
After Ben and his wife split up, he had a handful of short-lived romances with producer Lindsay Shookus, model Shauna Sexton and actress Ana de Armas. J.Lo also had a pair of relationships after her split from Marc. She had an on-and-off romance along with her backup dancer Casper Smart, and she or he even got engaged to MLB star Alex Rodriguez, however the pair never made it to the alter!
Despite the fact that Ben and J.Lo’s relationship didn’t work out the primary time, they did stay friends. “I keep up a correspondence periodically along with her and have a number of respect for her. How awesome is it that she had her biggest hit movie at 50? That’s f**king baller,” he said in a 2020 Recent York Times profile. The exes staying friends could’ve been what led to their eventual reunion!
Rekindling Their Spark
Nearly 20 years after calling off their engagement, Ben and J.Lo began spending a number of time together in April 2021. The pair were first seen shortly after the Hustlers star split up from A-Rod, and fans immediately began to ponder whether the couple had gotten back together all this time later!
After just a few months of romantic outings and getaways, the pair’s romance was first confirmed when photos of the couple kissing were snapped in June 2021. The pair went Instagram official in July, when Jennifer posted a steamy photo of them making out during her 52nd birthday celebrations. The pair showed that they’re back and higher than ever by re-creating a few of their most iconic moments from their first time together throughout the party, including partying to “Jenny From The Block,” and Ben even grabbed his girlfriend’s butt, identical to the video!
The couple’s reunion gave fans loads of super cute moments (like J.Lo wearing a “Ben” necklace during her birthday vacay) and romantic outings (with plenty of PDA) to enjoy, but obviously, things were slightly bit different this time around, now that the 2 stars are older and have families of their very own. The pair have been mixing their families and spending time with one another’s kids throughout their rekindled love! After getting engaged, Jennifer spoke about her desire to “construct” a family with Ben in a June interview with Good Morning America.
With Bennifer 2.0 in full effect, the pair have also raved about one another and their re-found love in interviews. The Gone Girl star gave an incredible tribute to his future fiancé in his first interview where he mentioned her in an interview with Adweek. “All I can let you know is that I actually have seen firsthand the difference representation makes because I actually have seen, time and again and time and again, women of color approach Jennifer and tell her what her example as a powerful woman and a girl succeeding and demanding her fair proportion within the business world means to them,” he said. “I’m in awe of what Jennifer’s effect on the world is.” Jennifer called their second time dating a “beautiful love story” in a February 2022 interview with People.
Engagement
A couple of 12 months after getting back together, the couple decided to offer their engagement a second probability! The “Let’s Get Loud” popstar revealed that Ben had popped the query with a green, diamond engagement ring, value an estimated $5 million, in April 2022. While it’s not clear when Bennifer will officially develop into husband and wife, a source near the couple revealed to HollywoodLife exclusively that they plan to go all out for the ceremony. “Ben and Jen need to have an elaborate and grand wedding and no expenses can be spared,” they said. “Even in the event that they were to make it private, between their families and their children, it could be an enormous wedding whether or not they desired to or not.”
Besides getting engaged, Ben and J.Lo have been taking other huge steps of their relationship, and their future as husband and wife. The pair have been seen house-hunting together, and it looks like they’re excited to begin living with each other. There have been even moving trucks seen outside of Ben’s Los Angeles home in early June 2022.
Getting Hitched In Vegas
In accordance with the wedding license obtained by HollywoodLife (above), the long-lasting couple made it official in Clark County, NV on Saturday, July 16. Jen later spilled the tea on the last-minute affair, revealing she wore a “dress from an old movie” (in addition to a second dress by her go-to designer Zuhair Murad) for the occasion.
“Last night we flew to Vegas, stood in line for a license with 4 other couples, all making the identical journey to the marriage capital of the world,” the star wrote via her OnTheJLo news letter.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are officially married. ✨ pic.twitter.com/rd2UF5YPrY
— bennifer tea (@jloaffleck) July 17, 2022
“Behind us two men held hands and held one another. In front of us, a young couple who made the three hour drive from Victorville on their daughter’s second birthday—all of us wanting the identical thing— for the world to acknowledge us as partners and to declare our like to the world through the traditional and nearly universal symbol of marriage.”
Georgia Wedding Celebration
Only a month after legally tying the knot, the couple celebrated with family and friends on Aug. 20 at Ben’s Georgia property about an hour out of Savannah. The three day affair, planned by Colin Cowie, kicked off with a rehearsal dinner on Aug. 19, followed by a lavish ceremony and wedding reception. The couple said their vows in a romantic ceremony officiated by pal Jay Shetty in front of friends including Matt Damon and Jimmy Kimmel.
Jennifer looked amazing in a custom Ralph Lauren dress with a protracted 20 foot train, which her child Emme, 14, and Ben’s daughter Seraphina, 13, assisted with. At one point, the newlywed shared an enormous kiss in front of their kids, looking so in love! Fireworks could possibly be heard going off in video captured by photo agencies after the ceremony as guests presumably headed to the seated dinner area pictured at the top of the dock overlooking the north Newport River.
Divorce
In mid-2024, breakup rumors began to flow into after Ben and Jennifer hadn’t been seen in public together for weeks. Inside months, multiple outlets reported that there was trouble in paradise.
While the 2 avoided questions on their marital status, they listed their home in Beverly Hills on the market over the summer of 2024. That August, the couple’s split was confirmed when Jennifer filed for divorce from Ben and cited their official date of separation as April 26, 2024.
