<p id=”par-1_50″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/jennifer-lopez/?swcfpc=1″>Jennifer Lopez</a> and <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/ben-affleck/?swcfpc=1″>Ben Affleck</a> broke up for the first time in 2004. They were engaged but realized they couldn’t move forward with the wedding. Shortly before this, though, Lopez spoke about how excited she was to marry Affleck. She described their relationship as the best thing in her life.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-jennifer-lopez-spoke-glowingly-about-her-relationship-with-ben-affleck”>Jennifer Lopez spoke glowingly about her relationship with Ben Affleck</h2>
<p id=”par-2_35″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/ben-affleck-try-impress-jennifer-lopez-met.html/”>Lopez and Affleck met</a> on the set of the film <em>Gigli</em>. At the time she was married, but they quickly hit it off. Before long, she had <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jennifer-lopez-doesnt-count-her-first-two-marriages-because-of-this-big-mistake.html/”>separated from her husband</a> and they began dating. </p>
<p id=”par-3_50″>After a whirlwind romance in which nearly every part of their lives was picked apart by the public, Affleck proposed. Before long, though, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jennifer-lopez-shared-ben-afflecks-national-scandal-problem.html/”>rumors of his infidelity</a> began to surface. When asked about this, Lopez said the rumors didn’t bother her. She trusted Affleck and felt secure in their relationship.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Ben-Affleck-Jennifer-Lopez-1.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Jennifer Lopez wears a black strappy dress and wears her hair up. She stands with Ben Affleck, who wears a suit.” class=”wp-image-3696707″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez | Kevin Winter/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-4_15″>“This relationship is the best thing in my life,” she told <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.wmagazine.com/story/jennifer-lopez-gives-the-lowdown-on-marriage-movies-and-bens-big-night-out” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>W Magazine</a> in 2003.</p>
<p id=”par-5_12″>She said she eagerly looked forward to the “major transition” of marriage.</p>
<p id=”par-6_46″>“I’m really excited about making more time for my personal life, and making decisions that aren’t all about me,” she said. “Just having another person; a family to consider; I am so looking forward to that in my life. I have been for a long time.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-jennifer-lopez-said-it-hurt-to-let-go-of-someone-she-loved-as-much-as-ben-affleck”>Jennifer Lopez said it hurt to let go of someone she loved as much as Ben Affleck</h2>
<p id=”par-7_34″>Not long after this interview, Lopez and Affleck announced that they were postponing their wedding. Shortly thereafter, they <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/why-did-jennifer-lopez-and-ben-affleck-break-up-the-first-time.html/”>called off their engagement</a> altogether. Lopez said this was an incredibly painful period in her life.</p>
<p id=”par-8_95″>“We didn’t break up right at that moment, it happened over the series of the next few months,” she told Zane Lowe for Apple Music’s <em><a target=”_blank” href=”https://music.apple.com/us/curator/this-is-me-now-radio-with-jennifer-lopez/1702071494″ rel=”noreferrer noopener”>This Is Me…Now</a></em><a target=”_blank” href=”https://music.apple.com/us/curator/this-is-me-now-radio-with-jennifer-lopez/1702071494″ rel=”noreferrer noopener”> </a><em><a target=”_blank” href=”https://music.apple.com/us/curator/this-is-me-now-radio-with-jennifer-lopez/1702071494″ rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Radio</a></em> (per <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a46772396/jennifer-lopez-ben-affleck-gradual-2003-wedding-breakup/” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Elle</a>). “Because what it did was it casted doubt in me, and both of us, about what our relationship was, and where it was going, I think. And I knew in my heart that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life, I knew that. But it didn’t feel like we were going to make it. And so, it scared me.”</p>
<p id=”par-9_17″>She said she knew she loved him, but they weren’t mature enough to work through their problems.</p>
<p id=”par-10_106″>“It was very hard, it was a very sad moment of letting go of somebody that you truly love because you just can’t figure it out,” she said. “You just don’t have the capacity and the ability at that moment, emotionally, to figure it out. We just weren’t mature enough in that way. Even though he was in his late twenties, I was in my early thirties, it still, it wasn’t … We weren’t ready to deal with and look at each other and go, what we have is real, we need to buckle down, we need to do some work. We just weren’t there yet.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-the-couple-appear-to-be-headed-toward-another-split”>The couple appear to be headed toward another split</h2>
<p id=”par-11_34″>Nearly two decades later, Affleck and Lopez rekindled their romance. After getting back together in 2021, they married in 2022. After just two years of marriage, though, they appear to be <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jennifer-lopez-ben-affleck-prepping-public-divorce-statement-source-says.html/”>headed for divorce</a>.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jennifer-Lopez-Ben-Affleck-1-15.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck standing next to each other at a Los Angeles movie premiere” class=”wp-image-3694556″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck attend the Los Angeles premiere of Warner Bros. ‘The Flash’ on June 12, 2023 | Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic</figcaption></figure>
<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jennifer-lopez-said-relationship-alex-rodriguez-worked-met.html/”>
Jennifer Lopez Said Her Relationship With Alex Rodriguez Wouldn’t Have Worked When They First Met </a>
</p>
</div>
<p id=”par-12_54″>“They finalized the divorce papers with her a month ago but are waiting for the right time to drop them,” a source told <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13694387/ben-affleck-jennifer-lopez-finalize-divorce-california.html?ico=related-replace” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>DailyMail.com</a>. “At that time, they will release a joint statement that will say how they have much love for each other and how they fought to make it work, but couldn’t.”</p>
<p id=”par-13_21″>While they have not been spotted together in weeks, neither Affleck nor Lopez has confirmed the rumors of their marital strife.</p>