Jennifer Lopez says ‘outside energy’ destroyed her and Ben Affleck’s first relationship

Bennifer 2.0 is the definition of a full circle moment

Senior WriterLos Angeles

NOVEMBER 28, 2022 9:17 PM ESTNOV 28, 2022, 9:17 PM EST

Jennifer Lopez is releasing her new album, “This Is Me… Now,” in 2023. Ahead of its release, the singer has been reflecting on her past heartbreak and current relationship with Ben Affleck. Talking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music, JLo opened up about how their 2004 break up affected her emotionally and professionally for 18 years. She also shared insight on what she believed made it end the first time.

Lopez released “This is Me… Then,” in 2002 when she was deeply in love with Affleck. Following the split, she told Lowe she couldn’t even perform the records because of how painful it was. “Once we called off that wedding 20 years ago, it was the biggest heartbreak of my life. I honestly felt like I was going to die,” she said.

Bennifer is and was always a tabloid sensation. When they first gave love a chance, they were at the height of their career and were constantly followed by paparazzi. She told Lowe fame, and tabloids destroyed their relationship. “It was a new thing and it destroyed us. That was part of what destroyed us was the outside energy that was coming at us,” she said.

Jennifer Lopez: ‘This Is Me…Now’, Ben Affleck, and Love | Apple Music

With emotional love letters like “Dear Ben,” JLo says the Oscar award winner loves the original album, “He loves that music. He knows all of the words,” she gushed. “He knows it so well, and he loves it so much. He’s my biggest fan, which is awesome, and supporter.”

But as much as it hurt breaking up, she believed it made them go into “hyper-gear,” when it came to their professional careers. “He went on to start directing, win his Oscar, do his second Oscar, do his thing where people had written him off in a way,” she said of Ben’s accomplishments. “The same thing with me. It was just like people were like, ‘Her music career’s over. She’s this, she’s that. I wasn’t getting movies. I had to power my way back. I had to work and work,” Lopez continued.

Lopez went on to marry Marc Anthony in 2004, the same year she and Affleck called off the engagement. After they divorced in 2011, she was still going. “I got divorced and I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll do the reality show. I’ll do the television show. I’ll do the single. I’ll do this.’”

She called this time of her life 18 years “on a spiral” where she just “couldn’t get it right.” “But now, 20 years later, it does have a happy ending. It has the most would-never-happen-in-Hollywood ending.”