Why Ben Affleck Is Just Now Speaking Out About His Split From Jennifer Lopez

The famous couple got engaged in 2002 but broke up the next year. They rekindled their love in 2021 and got married in 2022 in two ceremonies. However, their happy phase didn’t last long. Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024, and it was finalized in January 2025.

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Ben Affleck Has Nothing But Nice Things To Say About His Ex

Jennifer Lopez and husband Ben Affleck arrive at the World Premiere Of Amazon Studios' 'Air'
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The actor from “The Accountant 2” recently talked about the end of their relationship in an interview for the April issue of GQ. He had only good things to say about his former wife, mentioning that she has dealt with fame more skillfully than he has.

He added, “My temperament is to be a little bit more reserved and private than hers.”

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Their Celebrity Status Did Not Cause The Split

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez arriving at "The Tender Bar" Los Angeles Premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre
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Affleck also seemed to debunk the theory that their documentary from 2024 about their relationship, titled The Greatest Love Story Never Told, was the cause of their breakup, as some fans had suspected.

“As happens in relationships, you don’t always have the same attitude towards these things,” he continued, discussing how much of their private life they wanted to put in the spotlight. “And so I thought, Oh, this is interesting because how do you reconcile that? Because … I love and support this person. I believe in them. They’re great. I want people to see that.”

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When recalling the making of the documentary, Affleck noted that Lopez was much more comfortable in the spotlight than he was, but it was something he signed up for. He recalled saying something along the lines of, “‘You don’t marry a ship captain and then say, “Well, I don’t like going out in the water.”‘ You’ve got to own what you knew going into any relationship.'”

“And I think it’s important to say that wasn’t the cause of some major fracture. It’s not like you can watch that documentary and go, ‘Oh, now I understand the issues that these two had,'” he added.

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Ben Affleck Says He Doesn’t Mind Talking About His Personal Life ‘A Little’

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez brave the insane heat and go to the Malibu Chili cook off in malibu
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Although the “Argo” actor has been notoriously private, he confessed that he doesn’t mind talking about his personal life “a little” so long as his “actual feelings and intentions and beliefs are communicated.” In this instance, he says that he hopes it is clear that Lopez is someone that he has “a lot of respect for.”

Affleck said that he understands “wanting to divine or explore the kind of differences in perspective that we have in terms of how a person feels comfortable approaching the line between public and private life,” but insisted that he has “nothing but respect” for his ex.

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“There’s a tendency to look at breakups and want to identify root causes or something. But honestly … the truth is much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting,” he continued.

He Claims No ‘Scandal’ Led To Their Split

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez at ELLE to Celebrate 2023 Women in Hollywood
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Affleck also went on to state that there was no major scandal that led to a speedy end to their marriage. “There’s no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue,” he explained. “The truth is, when you talk to somebody, ‘Hey, what happened?’ Well, there is no, ‘This is what happened.'”

“It’s just a story about people trying to figure out their lives and relationships in ways that we all sort of normally do,” he added.

It’s clear from his comments that he is trying to put an end to the rumors and speculation regarding his relationship so they can both move on from the relationship. Although Affleck might not have addressed the comments in the past, it appears that he has learned to navigate the press due to his relationship with Lopez.

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Ben Affleck Has Become More Comfortable With The Spotlight

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Netflix's 'The Mother'
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In March 2023, Affleck told The Hollywood Reporter that Lopez “gave me a talk” before the interview to help him prepare.

“She thinks that, because of experiences that I’ve had, I’ve become very guarded. And she’s right,” he explained. “I view these things as land mines, where if you say one wrong thing, your career might be over.”

He addressed a December 2021 appearance on “The Howard Stern Show,” which he described as a “really painful experience where I did an interview where I was really vulnerable.” He claimed that various outlets distorted his words to say “the opposite of what I meant.”

So, before his interview with THR, he recalled:

“So she tells me today, ‘Relax, be yourself. Have fun. You’re actually a fun guy who is real and genuine, and you just seem so serious.’ Do I seem serious? But as in many things, she’s really right.”

He added, “And she loves me. She’s looking out for me. She’s trying to help me. So it’s like, maybe I ought to f-cking listen to her.”

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Ben Affleck Seems Ready To Get Vulnerable

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck attending "The Last Duel" Red Carpet.
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Now that his relationship is over, it seems that Affleck has accepted that he is going to make headlines regardless of whether he is silent or not. A good example of this is when the FBI was spotted outside his house in Brentwood, California, on January 12.

“There’s nothing newsworthy at all about the day-to-day events of my life or the conversation I have with one person or another person that’s photographed,” he added.

Although he knows it’s ridiculous, even he has to admit that people are going to talk about it, whether he likes it or not, and the only way to address the story is to control the narrative. Both Affleck and Lopez have major projects coming up. If he remained silent on the end of their marriage, questions about their relationship would no doubt come up on every red carpet they walked.

This way, by finally speaking out, he can shut the door on rumors of infidelity or strife in their marriage. Instead, he gets to pick up his brush and paint the picture of two adults who tried to be in a relationship… and it just didn’t work out.

Whether or not the fans believe it is another story, and one he has no interest in reading.