Bennifer Is Back: A Complete History of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez


Photography by Getty Images

Second concern: have we took a trip back in time to 2002?

This post was initially released on May 11,2021

If you took a look at the news today, you ‘d be forgiven for believing you ‘d had your breakfast with a side of time warp, particularly straight to the year2003 Ugg boots are being used outside once again, pubic-bone skimming denims are back, bootcut legs and all– and Bennifer is back, with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are back in the news, found together in Montana of all locations.

But it’s the year of our lord 2021, and your eyes do not trick you: Bennifer is back, although it’s not totally clear whether the portmanteau is back together in a romantic vs. platonic method. (And if the previous: What are you believing, J.Lo?!) To comprehend how we/they got here, looking as soon as again at rough paparazzi shots 17 years after they separated, it deserves revitalizing our cumulative memory with a total history of this infamous star couple.

Late2001: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez * perhaps * get together on the set of Gigli

If you wished to make a genuine topical burn back in the early 2000 s, you might do no much better than compare something adversely to Gigli, commonly accepted be among the more unbearable pieces of movie theater ever developed. The movie– a rom-com about mobsters, generally– was infamous even whilst shooting, generally due to the fact that it was upon this cursed set that Ben and Jen fulfilled. (Fun trivia: HalleBerry handed down Jen’s part! How various may history be if she had not?!)

At the time, Jen was still with her 2nd hubby, dancer Cris Judd, and she’s constantly preserved absolutely nothing took place in between her and Ben till she ‘d formally declared divorce in July2002 “We became friends first, that’s the honest to God truth,” Jen informed NBC in a 2003 interview, back when celebrities broke huge news on tv, instead of screen grabs of their Notes app onInstagram “It felt like we had good chemistry.” Ben piped up, including, “It felt like the scenes were working, it was good,” which ought to have been our very first indication that this relationship was doomed.

November 5, 2002: J.Lo drops the “Jenny From the Block” video, starring Ben

This video– which functions Jen and Ben wincing together onboard a private yacht– is plainly autobiographical, informing the tale of an embattled star couple who can’t appear to capture a break from the paparazzi’s hounding. While the couple had yet to go public together (and would just make their red carpet launching the following month, at the MaidIn Manhattan best), it was a quite apparent admission of their togetherness– and the scene where they go to a jewellery shop a foreshadowing of a significant rock-related statement to come. (In2008, Ben stated his “one regret” about the relationship was doing that video, nodding to the reality that it introduced a rough duration in his profession. Remember JerseyGirl? Me neither.)

November2002: Ben and Jen reveal their engagement!

It was the six-carat pink diamond heard all over the world: After less than a year together, the couple revealed their engagement, through a DianeSawyer interview The proposition, Jen stated, “was traditional, but in a spectacular way…very, very beautiful.” Even then, it was apparent to everybody what an odd pairing this was (she, an icon who had actually go on to eliminate the Superbowl at 50, he, a male whose future held a full-back phoenix tattoo), something Jen attended to in the interview: “The two of us together is like, ‘How did that happen?’” A concern we’re still asking almost 20 years later on.

September2003: Ben and Jen “postpone” their wedding prior to it was expected to occur

BenAffleck and Jennifer Lopez at the ‘Gigli’ best inCalifornia Photography by Getty Images.

Things had actually looked a bit awks at the Gigli best in July, however that didn’t stop all of us from being * stunned * when their weddings were cancelled simple days prior to their celebration was because of happen in SantaMonica In a joint declaration, they blamed “excessive media attention” for the post ponement, detailing discussions they ‘d had around “hiring three decoy brides” to toss the paps off the aroma, which is when they understood “something was awry.” The minor sensible space– why they could not still have actually gotten wed without all the pomp and body-doubles somewhere else– isn’t attended to.

January2004: Bennifer formally calls it gives up

Jen’s associate verified that she had “called off her engagement,” which is an intriguing spin on the widely-circulated reports at the time that it was Ben who ended things due to the fact that he could not handle all the Bennifer attention. Using the media madness around their wedding event was his simple escape of things, a “friend” informed People around the time. “He got out of the trap and he wasn’t going to get back in. He was looking for a graceful way to let it die.” Jen, speaking in 2008, has a more nuanced take. “We just happened to be together at the birth of the tabloids, and it was like, ‘Oh my God.’ It was just a lot of pressure… I think different time different thing, who knows what could’ve happened, but there was a genuine love there.”

February2020: Ben states a good aspect of Jen

Fast forward practically twenty years, and the very first indications that a “different time” may at last be on its method for the ex-loves. “She should have been nominated,” Ben stated of Jen’s efficiency in Hustlers, stimulating all type of talk of a reconciliation. “I keep in touch periodically with her and have a lot of respect for her. How awesome is it that she had her biggest hit movie at 50? That’s fucking baller,” Affleck informed the NewYork Times (Interestingly, around this time Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, another early aughts power couple, were spotted looking friendly, which truly makes us question if there wasn’t a “How to get your aging Hollywood client positive coverage” powerpoint doing the rounds of the press agents’ workplaces.) At the time, nevertheless, we were all sidetracked by Ben’s love with Ana de Armas, and what looked like a rock-solid thing going on in between J.Lo and ARod, who were engaged.

February2021: Ben supposedly begins emailing love letters to Jen

Per TMZ, Ben Affleck (lonely_boi _99 @hotmail. com, we presume?) saw images of Jen shooting a motion picture in the Dominican Republic and chose to connect through e-mail to state how excellent she was looking, and just how much he wanted he might be there with her. (How he fit this all in between his evident continuous surfing of celebrity dating app Raya, we’re unsure.) The e-mails obviously pinged backward and forward in between the 2 till Jen’s shoot covered in April.

April29, 2021: Bennifer are spotted hanging out together in Los Angeles after her ARod break up

Jen lands in L.A. and the Internet is immediately set alight by a series of pap shots that reveal the previous couple travelling around the city together. Most outlets reported that the hang was simply friendly, although the timing (simply after Jen ended things with ARod) gets the rumour mill grinding.

May2021: Ben takes Jen to Montana

Once once again, they’re driving around in cars and trucks together, this time in the marvelous surroundings of Montana, a location where Ben has actually been understood to take his kids (and ex-wife Jen Garner) for getaways. According to People, they’re now more than simply friendly exes going snowboarding together. “It’s all been very quick and intense, but Jen is happy,” their source claims. “They have a strong connection.” Stay tuned? This timeline is no place near done.

May23, 2021: Ben and Jen are found together in Miami

According to numerous sources (and some classic paparazzi pictures!), Bennifer reunited once again, this time inMiami In the pictures, the set is seen strolling down a flight of stairs, Ben tracking behind a beaming Jen using what one Twitter user states is the really exact same watch J.Lo talented him some 17 years ago while shooting “Jenny From the Block.”

Some extra reports declare the previous fiancés were spotted kissing throughout a health club date on May 24, although we have actually yet to see the photographic proof. A source informed EntertainmentTonight that Bennifer “shared a kiss in between sets” while exercising together in Miami, including that they strolled into Anatomy Fitness independently, however “were not trying to hide their relationship” as soon as within.

August23, 2021: Is a Bennifer engagement 2.0 on the horizon?!

In pictures released by PageSix, Ben Affleck is spotted at Tiffany & &Co in Century City, California, where he seems searching engagement rings. A source later on contests the account, informing E! News that Affleck was there for a scavenger hunt, and not due to the fact that he’s preparing a proposition (which kind of makes good sense, considering that he was holding a pen and paper and was accompanied by his kid and mommy). However, soon after this, UsWeekly reported that a source stated the 2 are “seriously talking about getting married.” We’ll be keeping tabs on this one, that’s for sure.



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