In 2023, Jennifer Lopez launched her latest brand extension/side-hustle: an alcohol/cocktail line called Delola. There were two big problems from the start. One, J.Lo has always been a non-drinker, since her earliest days, throughout her entire career, people have always known that she doesn’t even touch alcohol. She’s a non-drinker for health reasons and because she’s so clean-living, so it came across as a particularly obvious money-grab. The second problem is that Jennifer launched Delola less than a year after she married a man who is in recovery, a man who has had very well-documented alcohol issues over the years. Granted, Ben Affleck has also had well-documented gambling issues over the years and he’s also paid to promote a sports-betting app. Still, it was a bad look for Jennifer, that she’s hustling liquor she doesn’t drink while married to an alcoholic in recovery. Well, interesting story, I guess. The Mail says Delola is actually at the heart of why J.Lo and Ben are on the outs and headed for divorce.
The promotional videos couldn’t look glossier. A perfect Italian summer’s day, the rugged Amalfi coast in the backdrop, beautiful people smiling and clinking glasses — and, at the centre of the group, an exquisitely made-up Jennifer Lopez. She smiles knowingly to the camera, as she prepares to sip her drink. This, then, was the launch of J-Lo’s own cocktail range, Delola. In common with other Hollywood celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker and George Clooney, J-Lo had sought to develop her own alcohol offering in an effort to further monetise her empire.
One wonders if the brand of spirits and fruit juice mixes were really worth it. For, as a friend close to her husband Ben Affleck told Dailymail.com, her alcohol venture was ‘one of the things that broke the camel’s back’.
However, it’s understood that the drinks company was started prior to them getting back together and Ben was aware and supportive of the business. Indeed, they go so far as to say it contributed to Ben, not Jen, being the one to pull the plug on their union amid speculation that their marriage is finally at an end.
Why was Ben, 51, so infuriated by this high-profile commercial enterprise? Friends say that, as a recovering alcoholic, he felt his wife selling vodka and tequila tipples was insulting to him. He had, after all, spent many years battling his addiction. When the label was first launched last year, he was said to be devastated. His hurt was only heightened by his belief that her motivation for launching her drinks’ brand was purely financial — for cold, hard cash.
First seeking help for his alcoholism in 2001, Ben has since been in rehab multiple times. His drinking led to the breakdown of his marriage to Jennifer Garner. To make matters worse, J-Lo then went on a very public promo campaign where she told the Press how much she loves to drink to ‘relax and let loose’. Even this week, she released an image of herself lounging on a sunbed in a swimming costume to advertise the latest addition to the range.
One friend of the actor told the Mail: ‘Ben had to fight to get his life back after overcoming alcohol. Knowing how he lost everything including the love of his family, knowing that he could possibly relapse, Jen decided to start her own spritzer line for more money, as if she did not have enough. This was one of the things that broke the camel’s back. But Ben saved his sobriety.’
Wait, the Mail is saying that Ben knew about Delola before the launch and he was supportive of J.Lo’s side hustle, and then suddenly he was Not Okay and actually very upset? I mean, that actually sounds like Ben. Super-supportive until he isn’t, until he changes his mind. I know people in recovery, people working a program, are told to be ruthless about their sobriety. They’re encouraged to stay away from triggers and bad influences. I could also see how the idea of J.Lo having a liquor label was different than the reality of it, you know? And yes, we all knew it was a bad idea last year. Overall, I bet “the Delola issue” contributed to their bad situation but it was far from the only reason.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images and Delola’s Instagram.