Ben Affleck had reservations about his rekindled romance with Jennifer Lopez LONG before they split… and he told the whole world about it!
Back in late February, Jennifer dropped her documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, which was all about the making of her musical movie, This Is Me… Now: A Love Story. It coincided with her album of the same name and chronicled her love story with Ben. Nobody in her inner circle was a fan of the project, including her own husband — who made that VERY clear in the doc!
Related: How Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck’s Kids Are REALLY Doing Amid Divorce!
Reflecting on how incompatible he and his wife were, the Air director opened up about the pair’s differing opinions about the press, saying:
“I had a very firm sense of boundaries initially around the press while Jen I don’t think objected to it in the way I did. I very much did object to it.”
Being public with their romance was something he worried about from the get-go, he dished:
“I said, ‘Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media.’ And then I sort of realized it’s not a fair thing to ask. It’s sort of like you’re gonna marry a boat captain and you go, ‘Well, I don’t like the water.’”
True… but being in the public eye deeply affected their first engagement, so this worry wasn’t coming from nowhere. You’d think the Jenny from the Block singer would’ve wanted to avoid the same issues from their past, but as Ben said, she was like a moth drawn to the flame. Keeping her away from the media was going to be way harder than not, so Ben caved. He explained:
“We’re just two people with kind of different approaches trying to learn to compromise.”
The Good Will Hunting star also tried to rationalize the decision (even though it was clearly bothering him), adding:
“I know as a writer and director, I certainly do the same things. But things that are private, I had always felt, are sacred and special because in part they’re private. So, this was something of an adjustment for me.”
Despite his fears, he made the ultimate compromise by letting J.Lo get her way — and they paid the price for it. Oof!
The writing was on the wall this whole time. So, how’d everyone miss it??
The one reason this may not have seemed so strange at the time the film premiered is because Ben tried to downplay his reservations about the romance. In fact, he claimed the movie wasn’t even about him, musing:
“I don’t really love being in the making-of documentary about my personal life, which is why I’m relieved that, it seems like I might be in this but I’m not really. I was worrying for no reason. The movie wasn’t about me. It was about the ability to love yourself and that love story is a lot f**king harder to find than Prince Charming.”
You can tell he was really trying to make this work, but sadly, their feelings toward the spotlight were something they couldn’t ignore forever. And if they disagreed about this, who knows what else they couldn’t see eye to eye on?? Seems like they just weren’t the perfect match after all.
BTW, only TWO months after this movie premiered, the couple broke up. It’s unclear what the catalyst was, but on Tuesday, the actress listed April 26, 2024 as their date of separation. The divorce filing came months after breakup rumors first sparked — and exactly two years after they tied the knot in a big Georgia wedding. Brutal.
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[Image via Prime Video/YouTube]
