True Love to Divorce: A Look Back at Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s Relationship Timeline

November 2002

Months after meeting on the set of their movie, Gigli, the duo went public with their relationship. They announced their engagement in November with J. Lo. “I wasn’t expecting it, and I was just like ‘Oh my God,'” the singer said of the proposal during an interview with ABC News at the time.

November 2002

Shortly after their engagement, the couple locked lips for Jennifer’s “Jenny From the Block” music video.

September 2003

Days before they were set to walk down the aisle, the actors released a joint statement announcing that they had called off their wedding.

January 2004

They announced their split.

March 2004

Months after their breakup, Jennifer and Ben’s second movie together, Jersey Girl, hit theaters.

November 2014

In her memoir True Love, J. Lo discussed her and Ben’s breakup, calling it her “first real heartbreak.”

“It felt like my heart had been torn out of my chest. People do lots of things to anesthetize themselves in moments like these. Some people do drugs, some drink and some go out and party,” the singer wrote. “I sought out comfort in another person, tried to find someone who could make me feel loved and wanted in my loneliest hours.”

March 2016

Jennifer also reflected on her relationship with Ben during an interview with Jess Cagle.

“We didn’t try to have a public relationship,” she said at the time. “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.”

February 2020

Ben praised his ex’s performance in the 2019 movie Hustlers and said she “should have been nominated” for an Oscar that year.

“She’s the real thing. I keep in touch periodically with her and have a lot of respect for her,” he told The New York Times. “How awesome is it that she had her biggest hit movie at 50? That’s f–king baller.”

April 2021

The Argo star gushed over his ex’s “great talent.”

“I thought I had a good work ethic, but I was completely humbled and blown away by what she was committed to doing day in and day out, the seriousness in which she took her work, the quiet and dedicated way she went about accomplishing her goals, and then how she would go back and redouble her efforts,” Ben told InStyle. “She remains, to this day, the hardest-working person I’ve come across in this business. She has great talent, but she has also worked very hard for her success, and I’m so happy for her that she seems, at long last, to be getting the credit she deserves.”

He also touched on her “J. Lo glow,” and joked, “Where are you keeping the fountain of youth? Why do you look the same as you did in 2003 and it kind of looks like I’m in my 40s … at best?”

May 2021

The former flames were spotted in Big Sky, Montana, over Mother’s Day weekend. A separate source told In Touch at the time that they “still have chemistry” between them. “Jennifer and Ben are having fun and seeing where it goes,” the insider explained. “They both feel that their history together has made them closer friends.”

That same month, the two were spotted kissing at the gym in Miami. On May 26, an insider confirmed that the pair were officially back together

June 2021

PDA alert! Ben and J. Lo were seen smooching at Nobu in Malibu during a birthday gathering for her sister Lynda Lopez. The Bronx-native was also thinking about moving closer to Ben and “starting fresh with a clean slate,” another insider said.

Ben is “serious” about their relationship this time around. “They’re talking about their future together,” the source said.

They also went on a hot dinner date in Beverly Hills on June 26.

July 2021

Over the Fourth of July weekend, Jennifer and Ben went on a family trip to Universal Studios Hollywood. The pop star took her twins, Max and Emme, while Ben brought along his son, Samuel.

Later that month, Ben took Max and Emme out shopping in the Hamptons. A source revealed to Us Weekly that the two plan on “moving in together very soon.”

August 2021

A source exclusively told In Touch that month that the “On the Floor” singer “wants to be married,” while the Argo actor felt “Jennifer was the one that got away” as their romance heated up. 

October 2021

J. Lo’s former manager Rob Shuter predicted that the pop artist would end up getting married. “They had the right love at the wrong time,” he told the Daily Mail that month. “It’s the right time.” 

December 2021

The “On My Way” singer and the Good Will Hunting actor were spotted on several shopping trips throughout the month with each other’s kids. 

January 2022

An insider exclusively told In Touch that J. Lo and Ben’s engagement was “imminent.”
“There’s no question that Jen and Ben will be engaged,” the source said on January 24. “He’s told pretty much everyone that he lost Jen once before, and he’s not going to let that happen again. It’s meant to be, and if you see them together, there’s no doubt about it.”

February 2022

Ahead of Valentine’s Day, Ben created a personalized music video in honor of J. Lo’s film Marry Me, which hit theaters on February 11, per People. He used her single from the movie “On My Way” “as an early Valentine’s present” for her, J .Lo revealed in her On the JLo newsletter. The clip was nearly four minutes long and included various images of them dating in the early 2000s. 

“Watching it made me think about the journey of true love, its unexpected twists and turns, and then when it’s real, it actually can last forever,” the “Jenny From the Block” artist explained. 

March 2022

Aside from looking at a new dream home together, the Deep Water actor also supported his lady while she accepted the Icon Award at the 2022 iHeart Radio Music Awards. He was spotted applauding alongside her daughter, Emme.

April 2022

Jennifer announced her engagement to Ben on April 8 in a heartfelt video that was published to her newsletter, “On the JLo,” which she shared to her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

June 2022

The MTV Generation Award winner gushed about “build[ing] [her] family” with the Tender Bar actor in a June 2022 interview on Good Morning America.

“I love my career, but nothing is more fulfilling to me than being able to build my family with someone who I love deeply and is just as dedicated to family and to each other as we can be,” Jennifer said. “I love the idea of the future and what we can create, but I really want to savor the moment. I just want to stay real present in it as much as I can.”

Father’s Day Tribute

Jennifer paid tribute to Ben with a sweet Father’s Day tribute Instagram post in June 2022.

“Happy Father’s Day to the most caring, loving, affectionate, consistent and selfless Daddy ever,” the singer wrote alongside several candid videos that captured the couple’s day-to-day lives. “#HappyFathersDay my love.”

July 2022

The A-list couple took a weekend shopping trip with their kids Emme Muñiz and Samuel Affleck. 

July 2022

Ben and Jennifer finally made it down the aisle as they tied the knot in a surprise Las Vegas ceremony on July 16.

August 2022

The pair celebrated their love with a second wedding ceremony in front of family and friends at Ben’s Georgia estate with a three-day shindig beginning August 19.

September 2022

In September, Jennifer described their second ceremony as “perfect” in a post she shared via her newsletter, “On the JLo.”

“It had rained at sunset every day that week,” she shared. “Everyone was worried about the heat, the aptly named ‘love bugs,’ the details, would the guests all arrive on time, etc. — not to mention the thunder and lightning that arrived almost on cue each day at the exact time the ceremony was supposed to start that Saturday. Oh, and all of us caught a stomach bug and were recuperating ‘til late in the week, that, and along with a few other unexpected setbacks, had all the makings of a doozie of a wedding weekend.”

However, Jennifer said she never feared that the weather would ruin the wedding. “At six forty-five, Saturday, August [20th], the sun broke free and cast its rays like little diamonds dancing across the river behind the makeshift altar in our backyard,” she continued. “The twenty years between those dreams of youth and the adult world of love and family we embraced that day, brought more to this marriage than either of us ever could have imagined. We weren’t only marrying one another; we were marrying these children into a new family. They were the only people we asked to stand up for us in our wedding party. To our great honor and joy, each one did.”

October 2022

Ben and Jennifer attended their first event as a married couple during the Ralph Lauren 2023 Fashion Experience on October 13 in Pasadena, California.

November 2022

J. Lo took to Instagram on November 20, 2022, sharing a sweet video of her and Ben cuddling with her 226 million followers. Using a popular TikTok sound that includes the phrase, “I did it, I found the person that makes me the happiest I’ve ever been,” the Hustlers star and the Deep Water actor displayed their love for the world to see amid the Thanksgiving season. J. Lo’s use of holiday-themed emojis in the caption further indicated that she had plenty to be thankful for. 

November 2022

The couple celebrated their first Thanksgiving together as a married couple, with J. Lo sharing a collage video via Instagram following the holiday.

January 2023

While sitting down with Jimmy Kimmel, Jennifer admitted she felt “a little PTSD” before marrying Ben because of the fallout from their first engagement.

“We were so happy and, of course, it was happening, but the wedding was so stressful,” she recalled.

The Shotgun Wedding actress then revealed how the duo decided to get hitched in Las Vegas.

“One day, Ben just said, ‘F—k it, let’s just go to Vegas, and get married tonight,’” she explained. “He said, ‘Go to rehearsal. When you get back here, I’ll have everything set up.’”

2023 Grammy Awards

Jennifer had her hubby by her side as she presented the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the February 2023 Grammys. However, Ben’s face would later become a meme after cameras caught the Batman actor looking “anxious and bored” while sitting in the audience. 

“Ben was on his best behavior as Jen’s date, that’s the only reason he was there,” an insider later told In Touch. “But it was obvious that he didn’t feel comfortable because all eyes were on him.”

March 2023

Jennifer showed her love for Ben when the duo shared a kiss at the premiere of his movie Air. 

The Big Move

After two years of searching for a house together, Jennifer and Ben finally bought a house together in Beverly Hills in May 2023. Jennifer shared an accidental house tour on her Instagram in June just a few weeks after movers were photographed with the family’s belongings outside the property.

February 16, 2024

Jennifer released her album This Is Me… Now, a sequel to 2002’s This Is Me… Then, in February 2024. The album was heavily inspired by her reunion with Ben and their marriage. On the same day as the album’s release, a musical film called This Is Me… Now: A Love Story premiered on Amazon Prime Video. Cowritten by Bennifer, Dave Meyers and Chris Shafer, the film is loosely based on Jen and Ben’s love story.

“When Ben and I got back together, it was just like, ‘I want to make music again, I want to get back in the studio,’” she said. “I was very, very inspired. It ended this 20-year journey about a lot of questions that I had about love and being myself, a hopeless romantic, and what it means to really enter into a kind of healthier, more self-accepting phase for myself. Now what will happen from that, I hope, will be even more wonderful things that I have been so privileged to live up until this point.”

May 15, 2024

After the couple sparked concerns when Ben didn’t accompany Jennifer to the Met Gala on May 6, 2024, In Touch exclusively broke the news that they were “headed for a divorce” on May 15, 2024. An insider revealed that Ben had “moved out” of their shared home and that he was “not to blame.”

“He’s focusing on his work and his kids now,” the source explained. “Ben already moved out and they’ll likely have to sell the dream house they spent two years searching for. They’ll never stop loving each other, but she can’t control him, and he can’t change her. There’s no way it could have lasted.”

May 16, 2024

One day after their problems were revealed, Ben and Jen were spotted after 47 days of not being photographed together. The duo reunited to support Ben’s child Fin in a school play. Ben was seen behind the wheel on his SUV as he reached across the vehicle to open the door for Jennifer, according to photos exclusively obtained by In Touch. They were joined by Jennifer’s child Emme, who sat in the backseat.

“Jen looked super thin and was dressed casual-chic. She didn’t glam up like the last time she came to a school function,” an eyewitness said. “She seemed more subdued than usual when she greeted Ben as he pulled the car up. Emme was super excited, though, jumping for joy over Fin’s performance.”

An additional source told In Touch that “nothing would have stopped” Ben and Jennifer from “coming together for the kids.”

May 18, 2024

An insider exclusively told In Touch that Jennifer was in the process of “hiring crisis PR to help navigate the divorce” on May 18, 2024, with insiders stating that “a divorce filing is imminent.”

“It’s expected Laura Wasser will be handling this divorce,” a second source shared. “Laura was the divorce lawyer who mediated Ben’s divorce with Jennifer Garner, and she represented J. Lo in her divorce with Marc Anthony. So there’s history on both sides.”

Meanwhile, a third source added that Ben was “no longer wearing his wedding band.”

August 2024

After spending a summer on separate coasts, Jennifer filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court on August 20, 2024, In Touch confirmed at the time. It fell on the date of the estranged couple’s second wedding, which took place at Ben’s estate in Georgia two years prior.

Signs of the divorce had been coming throughout July, as the pair publicly listed their Beverly Hills marital mansion for sale on July 11 at a price of $68 million. Ben ended up purchasing a $20 million bachelor pad in Pacific Palisades, California, closing escrow on Jennifer’s July 24 birthday.

September 14, 2024

Only one month after their divorce filing, Jennifer and Ben reunited for a public outing with their kids at the Beverly Hills Hotel on September 14.

While the couple didn’t display any public affection outside the venue, sources told Page Six that they were “holding hands and kissing” inside. Their children were said to be seated at a separate table from their well-known parents.

Days later, Ben and Jen reportedly attended a back-to-school event for their kids on September 17. The pair were “totally cool with each other and very cordial,” according to TMZ.

October 4, 2024

In light of Ben’s flirty interactions with his soon-to-be ex-wife, sources exclusively told In Touch that it was causing concern among his loved ones — including his ex Jen Garner — that he was playing with fire.

“Ben’s got a very addictive personality, and a lot of people think now that he’s sober, he’s switched vices and become a love addict,” the insider explained. “It’s obviously giving him some sort of buzz to be sort of back and forth with J. Lo, even though he has no intention of going any further than having a little fun.”

October 9, 2024

After radio silence, Jennifer finally broke her silence on her “unfamiliar” and “scary” divorce from Ben in a sit-down for Interview magazine.

“It feels sad. It feels desperate,” Jennifer told comedian Nikki Glaser. “But when you sit in those feelings and go, ‘These things are not going to kill me,’ it’s like actually, I am capable of joy and happiness all by myself. Being in a relationship doesn’t define me. I can’t be looking for happiness in other people.”

The New York native said she was focused on self-love and wasn’t “looking for anybody” now that she’s newly single.

“For people who are romantics and love being in relationships and want to grow old with somebody, we think, ‘I have to have that to be whole and happy.’ And you don’t,” she told the outlet, later admitting that her two-year marriage to Ben didn’t play out as she had envisioned.

“I was thinking about this time in my life, and I’m like, ‘That’s not what I thought it was going to turn out like.’ And then I thought, ‘No, this is exactly where I needed to be, to lead me to where I want to go,’” she told the outlet. “That doesn’t mean it didn’t almost take me out for good. It almost did. But now, on the other side of it, I think to myself, ‘F–k, that is exactly what I needed. Thank you, god. I’m sorry it took me so long. I’m sorry that you had to do this to me so many times. I should have learned it two or three times ago.’”