The celebrity couple were engaged in the 2000s, broke up, then reunited 20 years later and got married – twice – before the latest split.
After a relationship that spanned two decades, two engagements, two weddings and headlines too numerous to count, Jennifer Lopez has filed for divorce from Ben Affleck.
The filing Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court brought to an apparent end a celebrity coupling – or at least the second instalment of it – that dazzled from the very heights of the pop culture firmament and emblazoned countless tabloid covers. They became known, even before such power-couple portmanteaus were ubiquitous, as “Bennifer”.
The filing was first reported by the TMZ website. TMZ said Lopez listed the date of separation as April 26, 2024. It added that she did not mention any prenuptial agreement.
After meeting, falling in love and getting engaged in the early 2000s – and starring together in 2003’s infamous Gigli and 2004’s Jersey Girl – the couple parted ways, blaming in part the pressure of the public eye.
But to the delight of many and perhaps the scepticism of others, they reunited two decades later and married – twice – in 2022.
“Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient,” wrote Lopez, announcing their first, quickie Las Vegas wedding that July, and signing off as Jennifer Lynn Affleck.
“Stick around long enough and maybe you’ll find the best moment of your life in a drive through in Las Vegas at 12.30 in the morning in the tunnel of love drive through with your kids and the one you’ll spend forever with,” she wrote in her newsletter.
The couple had flown to Las Vegas, stood in line for their licence with four other couples and were wed just after midnight at A Little White Wedding Chapel, where Lopez said a Bluetooth speaker played their brief march down the aisle.
