Bennifer 2.0 has formally taken its closing bow.
After rekindling their early 2000s romance, Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck on Aug. 20 — the two-year anniversary of their Georgia marriage ceremony. Their whirlwind reunion, which started with a easy e mail in early 2021, led to every thing from romantic getaways to a high-profile engagement and never one, however two, marriage ceremony ceremonies.
Whereas it initially appeared like a fairytale comeback, sources beforehand informed Yahoo Leisure that the couple’s diverging profession ambitions and rising issues over privateness started to pressure the connection earlier this yr, notably as Lopez’s Affleck-inspired initiatives allegedly made him uncomfortable.
As short-lived because it was, their whirlwind love story captivated the general public and reminded everybody that even essentially the most glamorous {couples} face real-life challenges.
“It is unhappy, nevertheless it’s for the very best,” one supply who is aware of each Affleck and Lopez not too long ago informed Yahoo. “They’re simply totally different folks when it comes all the way down to it, however there’s been a whole lot of love there through the years.”
Right here’s a rewind of Bennifer 2.0 — from reuniting by way of e mail to formally submitting for divorce.
April 2021: Affleck sends Lopez an e mail
The couple reconnected when Affleck despatched Lopez an e mail shortly after she known as off her engagement to Alex Rodriguez in April 2021. He reportedly informed her that he had given a glowing assessment for {a magazine} that had requested him to remark about her for a profile.
Affleck had not too long ago cut up from Ana de Armas on the time, and shortly, Lopez and Affleck have been seen touring collectively to 1 one other’s houses.
Might 2021: A secret journey to Montana
The couple have been noticed spending a number of days collectively throughout a personal journey to Montana. It turned clear {that a} new romance was blossoming.
“Clearly we weren’t attempting to exit in public,” Lopez informed Vogue about that point in a December 2022 cowl story. “However I by no means shied away from the truth that for me, I all the time felt like there was an actual love there, a real love there.”
It was later reported that they have been formally again collectively and that Lopez was “very enthusiastic about how issues are going with Ben.”
June 2021: Lopez strikes from Miami to Los Angeles
Lopez moved from Miami to Los Angeles in hopes of getting a “recent begin” with Affleck. On the time, a supply informed E! that Lopez deliberate on going between L.A. and the Hamptons in New York that summer time, and that L.A. would “be her base” as she started taking a look at colleges for her youngsters to attend that fall.
July 2021: Instagram official
The couple turned Instagram official after Lopez’s pal Leah Remini posted a clip Together with a photograph of them from her celebration, which had taken place in June.
“They’re head over heels for one another once more,” an insider informed Yahoo Leisure on the time. “They would not be spending time like this with the children if it was only a fling.”
September 2021: Purple carpet debut
The couple made their purple carpet debut on the Venice Movie Pageant for the premiere of The Final Duel, which Affleck co-wrote with Matt Damon. It had been practically 20 years since Affleck and Lopez walked a purple carpet collectively — in 2003 for his or her movie, Gigli.
Weeks later, Affleck and Lopez walked the Met Gala carpet collectively. A supply later informed Us Weekly that “going purple carpet official was an exquisite expertise” for them each.
February 2022: Lopez feels safe
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lopez acknowledged that they weren’t planning on breaking apart anytime quickly.
“I don’t suppose we might have gotten again collectively if we thought that was the place it was headed,” she mentioned. “We really feel like what we discovered once more is a lot extra vital, and the way we defend that and the way we reside our lives — what to share, what to not share — is the steadiness that we’ve got now, the good thing about expertise and the knowledge that we gained through the years.”
April 2022: They’re engaged — once more
The singer teased on social media that she had a “main announcement” deliberate for her upcoming publication, On the JLo. It was there that she revealed a large engagement ring.
She later revealed that Affleck had proposed whereas she was within the bathtub. “It was nothing fancy in any respect, nevertheless it was essentially the most romantic factor I may’ve ever imagined,” she wrote within the publication.
July 2022: They elope in Las Vegas
The couple shocked followers with an impromptu Las Vegas marriage ceremony. She later revealed that “PTSD” from their failed 2003 marriage ceremony impressed them to elope.
August 2022: They married — once more — in Georgia
After legally getting married in Vegas, the couple threw a much bigger celebration at Affleck’s Georgia property, the place that they had reportedly deliberate to get married over 20 years in the past, earlier than splitting up the primary time. Lopez determined to take Affleck’s final title.
January 2023: The households transfer in collectively
Throughout an look on At present, Lopez opened up about shifting the children in collectively on the couple’s new dwelling in L.A., describing the expertise as an “emotional transition.”
“It’s simply been an exceptional yr, like [the] greatest yr, I feel, since my youngsters have been born,” she mentioned on the time.
February 2023: Matching tattoos
Quickly after Affleck went viral on the Grammy Awards for seemingly showing “depressing,” the couple debuted matching tattoos on their first Valentine’s Day as a married couple: two cupid arrows displaying the primary letters of their names: “J” and “B.”
February 2024: 3 new initiatives
On Feb. 16, Lopez launched her new album, This Is Me… Now, which she mentioned was impressed by her new romance with Affleck. She additionally launched a musical movie model, This Is Me… Now: A Love Story, and a documentary, The Best Love Story By no means Instructed, which chronicled her new romance with Affleck.
“Individuals know the story of me and Ben, that is not the story I wish to inform,” she informed Yahoo Leisure forward of the album’s launch. “The factor I really like extra about who I’m right this moment versus perhaps 20 years in the past is I can actually proceed evolving, and rising, and understanding that I am not the place I am gonna be in two years, or 5 years or 10 years. It should be even higher. It is actually the thrilling half.”
April 2024: They privately separate
The couple privately separated, in line with Lopez’s divorce submitting that lists April 26 because the official date of their separation, Selection confirmed.
Might 2024: Solo appearances and tour cancellation
Following a string of high-profile solo appearances, the media started speculating that the couple was on the rocks. Affleck was noticeably absent on the purple carpet on the Might 20 premiere of Lopez’s new movie Atlas, the place she reportedly shut down questions in regards to the cut up rumors.
Later that month, Lopez introduced that she was canceling her This Is Me… Dwell tour, writing in her publication that she was “utterly heartsick and devastated” over the choice, however known as it “completely obligatory.”
June 2024: They transfer out of their home
It was reported that Affleck quietly moved his stuff out of their shared dwelling whereas Lopez was vacationing in Italy with mates with out him.
July 2024: A brand new place — with out one another
In line with Individuals, Affleck moved out of the couple’s home and closed escrow on a brand new $20.5 million L.A. dwelling on the identical day Lopez finalized the sale of her New York Metropolis apartment, which had reportedly been available on the market for seven years.
In the meantime, the couple publicly ignored vital milestones on reverse coasts — together with the singer’s Bridgerton-themed birthday, which befell within the Hamptons whereas Affleck was in L.A. In a video, Lopez sang, “Joyful Days Are Right here Once more.”
August 2024: Lopez recordsdata for divorce
Quickly after Affleck hosted a “small” get-together for his 52nd birthday on Aug. 15, information broke on Aug. 20 that Lopez had filed for divorce from Affleck, precisely two years after their Georgia marriage ceremony ceremony.
