1969-present
Jennifer Lopez News: This Is Me...Now Singer Files for Divorce from Ben Affleck
August 20 is an auspicious day for Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck—now in more ways than one. Two years ago, it’s when they celebrated their wedding with family and friends after tying the knot in Las Vegas in July 2022. Now, it’s also the day that marks the end of their union, as Lopez filed for divorce from her fourth husband earlier this month.
Their two-year marriage marks the stars’ second go-round at love. Lopez, 55, and Affleck, 52, were previously engaged in late 2002, just months after meeting. They called off the wedding until 20 years later. Their blended family included Lopez’s twins with her ex-husband Marc Anthony as well as Affleck’s three children with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
Over the years, Lopez has immortalized her relationship with the Air star through her music. The latest example is This Is Me...Now, her ninth studio album that released this February along with a self-funded musical titled This Is Me…Now: A Love Story and a documentary about the making of the album, The Greatest Love Story Never Told. Affleck appeared in both movies.
Who Is Jennifer Lopez?
Actor, singer, and dancer Jennifer Lopez has built a successful entertainment career dating back to the 1990s. A native of New York City’s Bronx borough, J.Lo began her Hollywood career as a dancer on the sketch TV show In Living Color. After a breakout role portraying Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla in the 1997 biopic Selena, Lopez became a prominent leading lady in movies such as the critically acclaimed Out of Sight, the romantic comedies The Wedding Planner and Maid In Manhattan, and more recently, Hustlers. Her music career has spanned nine albums, including the chart-topping record J.Lo from 2001, and has included the hit songs “Let’s Get Loud,” “Jenny From The Block,” and “If I Had Your Love.” Lopez has been married four times, including to salsa icon Marc Anthony and actor Ben Affleck.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Jennifer Lynn Lopez
BORN: July 24, 1969
BIRTHPLACE: New York, New York
SPOUSES: Ojani Noa (1997-1998), Cris Judd (2001-2003), Marc Anthony (2004-2014) and Ben Affleck (2022-present; separated)
CHILDREN: Max and Emme
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo
Early Life
Jennifer Lynn Lopez, familiarly known as “J.Lo,” was born July 24, 1969, in the New York City borough of the Bronx. Her mother, Guadalupe “Lupe” Rodríguez, was a teacher, and her father, David Lopez, worked as a computer specialist. Now divorced, J.Lo’s parents are both from Puerto Rico and had a total of three children, all daughters. The middle child, J.Lo has an older sister, Leslie, and a younger sister, Lynda.
The Lopez household was a modest one. Jennifer and her sisters shared a bedroom in their home in the Castle Hill neighborhood, though the future star grew up taking dance lessons, did gymnastics, and attended a private high school. David and Lupe worked hard to provide for their family and instilled a strong work ethic and sense of independence in their children. “My dad worked nights, and I was aware of how much he was doing for us,” Jennifer told W magazine in 2013. “My mom was a Tupperware lady and also worked at the school. I always felt that I couldn’t let them down.”
Her hallmark determination is also a product of her upbringing in the Bronx. “Growing up in the Bronx really did shape me because I grew up with not a lot,” Lopez said in November 2020. “Everything about me, my kind of grit, I’ve never thought about it or described it this way before, but it is the heartbeat inside of me that is the Bronx and my upbringing that continues to drive me.”
Lopez attended Catholic schools, including Holy Family School for her elementary education and the all-girls Preston High School. She was an athletic kid who ran track and was on her school’s softball team. But her favorite hobbies were music and dance. “Music has always been my passion,” she said in December 2020. “Along with dance, it was my first love.”
Lopez attended dance lessons at the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club and the Ballet Hispanico, and her mother nurtured both interests at home. “My mom was… the mom who got me into musicals and introduced me to all kinds of music,” Lopez told Rolling Stone. “I am an entertainer because of my mom.”
Lupe’s support had limits, however. When Jennifer dropped out of Baruch College after one semester to pursue a full-time dance career, her parents weren’t happy. She moved out of their house at age 18 and slept on the couch of her dance studio. “I was homeless, but I told [my mom], ‘This is what I have to do,’” Lopez told W magazine. The little cash she earned came from various dance performances; occasional teaching gigs, including to a young Kerry Washington; and stage musicals abroad.
It wasn’t long before Lopez got her first break. Her big bet on herself was about to pay off.
Movies
In 1990, Lopez won a national competition and earned a spot dancing on the popular Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color as one of the “Fly Girls.” Lopez moved to Los Angeles the next year for the show, hosted by creator Keenen Ivory Wayans and starring Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx among others. Lopez appeared in the third and fourth seasons.
Meanwhile, she was steadily booking work as a backup dancer for the likes of Janet Jackson and New Kids on the Block in addition to some small acting jobs. Lopez’s first movie was the critically acclaimed drama Mi Familia in 1995. She also appeared in Money Train (1995), opposite Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, and in Jack (1996), directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Robin Williams.
Selena
Lopez’s breakout role arrived in the 1997 movie Selena. She was chosen for the title role in the biopic of the Tejano pop singer Selena Quintillana who was killed by a fan two years earlier. The casting ruffled feathers among some people who pointed out Lopez is of Puerto Rican descent, not Mexican American like Selena. But Lopez dedicated herself to an accurate portrayal of the late singer by watching old videos and visiting Selena’s hometown and family.
Her resulting performance earned widespread praise, including a Golden Globe nomination. Lopez also made history as the first Latina actor to earn $1 million for a movie role. By the time it left theaters, Selena had earned more than $35 million at the global box office. The movie was added to the National Film Registry in 2021, further signifying its cultural importance.
For all of the obvious impacts the part had on J.Lo’s life, there was a less apparent yet quite significant one, too. “I decided right after that movie to make my first record, and I did,” Lopez said in 2015.
Thrillers: Anaconda, Out of Sight, and The Cell
As she embarked on her music career, Lopez kept acting. Her next several movies were mostly thrillers. She led the cast of Anaconda (1997) that included Ice Cube and Jon Voight in a forgettable film that nevertheless spawned multiple sequels. That same year, she starred in Blood and Wine, opposite Jack Nicholson.
Her role as federal marshal Karen Sisco in Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight (1998) further enhanced her image as a bankable movie star. The movie was based on the Elmore Leonard novel and co-starred George Clooney. Out of Sight remains one of Lopez’s most critically acclaimed performances.
In the summer of 2000, Lopez starred in the science fiction-thriller The Cell, in which she played a child psychologist helping to track a terrifying serial killer. The movie wasn’t a critical favorite but earned more than $104 million worldwide in ticket sales.
Rom-Coms: The Wedding Planner, Maid in Manhattan, and More
The popularity of the multi-talented Lopez reached new heights in early 2001, when her next movie, The Wedding Planner, topped the American box office in its first two weeks of release as her album J.Lo debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. She was the only performer to have a No. 1 movie and No. 1 album for more than two decades and remains the only woman to have done so (Bad Bunny made similar history in August 2022).
Moreover, her lead role in the romantic comedy—as Mary, the titular wedding planner, opposite Matthew McConaughey’s groom-to-be Steve—ushered in a new era of Lopez’s movie career. A string of rom-coms followed, some more successful than others. This included the fan favorite Maid in Manhattan (2002) with Ralph Fiennes; Gigli (2003), a box-office bomb, and Jersey Girl (2004), both with Ben Affleck; and Monster-In-Law (2005), alongside Jane Fonda who played her insufferable future mother-in-law.
In the mid-2000s, Lopez drew on her dance and music background for a pair of roles. She played a ballroom dance teacher who helps a bored lawyer (Richard Gere) navigate his middle-life crisis in 2004’s Shall We Dance?, a remake of a top-grossing Japanese flick. Next, she starred with her then-husband Marc Anthony in El cantante (2006), a biopic about internationally acclaimed salsa singer Hector Lavoe. Fittingly, Lopez played Lavoe’s wife, Puchi.
Lopez was back to romantic comedies at the start of the next decade. She earned top billing for The Back-up Plan (2010), about a woman who embarks on a solo motherhood journey the same day she meets a new love interest, then joined the ensemble cast of What to Expect When You’re Expecting (2012) that included Cameron Diaz, Elizabeth Banks, Chris Rock, and more. Next, the mother of two lent her voice to family-friendly fare in Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) as well as 2015’s Home, another animated movie.
Hustlers and Beyond
Between 2013 and 2015, Lopez appeared in three thrillers that ranged from mediocre to disastrous. She found slightly more traction with the light-hearted career drama Second Act (2018), alongside Leah Remini and Vanessa Hudgens, but its moderate success was no comparison for her next role.
In 2019’s Hustlers, Lopez showcased a different set of moves as a scheming stripper. It was a career-defining performance in the eyes of many critics. The actor received a Golden Globe nod among a slew of smaller nominations, though she was notably snubbed in the next year’s Academy Awards race.
Her next role arrived in the 2022 rom-com Marry Me, co-starring Owen Wilson. Marry Me simultaneously premiered in theaters and on the Peacock streaming service, where it became the platform’s No. 1 movie among similarly released titles. Lopez was heavily featured on the movie’s soundtrack and recorded the duet “Marry Me” with singer Maluma.
Lopez’s most recent movies are Shotgun Wedding (2023), a rom-com with Josh Duhamel, the Netflix thriller The Mother (2023), and the sci-fi action movie Atlas, also on Netflix, which released in May 2024.
Music
Already a successful dancer and actor, Lopez set out to become a certified triple-threat in the late 1990s. She realized that dream with the release of her debut Latin pop album, On The 6, in June 1999. The album was named after the New York City subway’s 6 train, which travels through the Bronx where Lopez grew up. Fueled by the success of the No. 1 single “If You Had My Love,” On The 6 went platinum within two weeks. Practically overnight, Lopez became one of the most influential examples of the growing Latin cultural influence in pop music.
On The 6 led to Lopez’s only two Grammy Award nominations to date. Both “Let’s Get Loud” and “Waiting For Tonight” competed for Best Dance Recording. The latter also earned a Top 10 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 8.
Lopez’s next album, J.Lo, was an immediate and historic success. In January 2001, it debuted atop the Billboard 200—the singer’s only No. 1 album to date—and remained there for weeks, coinciding with the release of her latest movie, The Wedding Planner, that captured the top spot at the domestic box office. Lopez remains the only woman to have a No. 1 album and No. 1 movie simultaneously. J.Lo sold 3 million copies by that November, and two of its songs—“I’m Real” and “Ain’t It Funny,” both featuring Ja Rule—led the Billboard Hot 100. Other hits from the album included “Love Don’t Cost A Thing” and “I’m Gonna Be Alright” featuring Nas.
In December 2002, Lopez delivered another one-two punch with the release of the record This Is Me...Then and a starring role in Maid in Manhattan, though the combination didn’t reach the same level of success as her releases the previous year. Still, This Is Me…Then, about her relationship with actor Ben Affleck, became a double-platinum album that reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Lopez notched her fourth No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 with “All I Have,” a collaboration with LL Cool J. Her third studio album also included the memorable tune “Jenny From The Block,” with Styles and Jadakiss, that traced the multi-hyphenate’s rise from the girl next door in the Bronx to a global superstar.
She continued releasing new music, including her first Spanish album, in the mid-2000s and 2010s. This included the platinum album Rebirth (2005), Como Ama Una Mujer (2007), Brave (2007), Love? (2011), and A.K.A. (2014). Her most successful hits during these years included “Control Myself,” an LL Cool J track she was featured on, and “On The Floor,” a collaboration with Pitbull from Love?
After Lopez delivered a tribute to Motown at the 2019 Grammy Awards, the NFL tapped her and Shakira to jointly perform the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show in Miami. “I love that the Super Bowl has two women performing this year, that they have two Latinos performing this year,” Lopez said. “It’s the marker of a new time, not just for the NFL but for this country. It sends an important message.” The two performers delivered the goods with their high-energy set, with J.Lo breaking out a Hustlers-inspired pole dance before switching gears to sing alongside her 11-year-old daughter, Emme, in celebration of Latin pride.
The singer resurfaced again in February 2024 with her first new album in a decade: This Is Me…Now, a sequel to 2002’s This Is Me…Then. In addition to new music, the self-funded $20 million project included two video elements: an original musical film called This Is Me…Now: A Love Story and a documentary about making the album titled The Greatest Love Story Never Told. (Amazon later bought the project for an undisclosed amount.) Heavily influenced by her marriage to Affleck at last, the project originated with her processing her quest for love. “Now I feel like because Ben and I have rediscovered each other—and now that we’re married—I have something to offer,” Lopez told Variety. “This is the defining piece of work that’s going to close that chapter so I can move on to the next part of my life.”
High as her hopes were, This Is Me…Now didn’t amount to a musical comeback. The album sputtered out at No. 38 on the Billboard 200, whereas all but one of her previous records had cracked the top 10 (Brave was slightly less successful but rose as high as No. 12). Lopez was lauded for the work she put into the movie, though many reviews chalked it up to an over-the-top spectacle. Worst of all, her accompanying tour reportedly faced poor ticket sales that not even a rebranding as a greatest hits concert series could save. The entertainer canceled the entire tour in late May, less than a month before the first scheduled show, citing she was taking time away to be with her family and close friends.
Despite this, Lopez remains a highly successful musician. The Grammy-nominated singer has had four songs reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and six more peak within the chart’s top 10. Throughout her career, she has sold more than 11 million albums in the United States and, according to her official website, more than 80 million worldwide.
TV: American Idol and Shades of Blue
In 2011, Lopez entered into a new phase in her career: She became a judge on American Idol Season 10. She and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler took over for departing judges Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres on the hit reality competition show.
Lopez returned to the TV show for its 11th season and earned a reported $20 million, almost double what she made from her first contract. The significant pay bump didn’t keep her around long-term. She announced in 2012 she would be leaving the judging panel. “I honestly feel like the time has come that I have to get back to doing the other things that I do, that I put... on hold because I love Idol so much,” Lopez told Ryan Seacrest on his morning radio show.
Her departure from the show proved short-lived, however, as Lopez returned to American Idol for its 13th season, in 2014. She continued judging through Season 15.
Lopez remained involved in reality TV after her Idol departure. She served as executive producer and a judge on a dance competition show called World of Dance, which had a $1 million prize for the taking. The show debuted in May 2017 and ran for four seasons.
The perennial movie star embarked on another career-first when she booked a starring role on the NBC police drama Shades of Blue, also with Ray Liotta. Lopez’s role was as a corrupt cop who turns against her fellow officers to save her own neck and protect her daughter. The show debuted in 2016 to mixed reviews but found its footing and endured for three seasons.
Relationship with Ben Affleck
In August 2024, Lopez filed for divorce from her husband, Ben Affleck. Although the Hollywood A-listers have only been married for two years, their relationship dates back decades.
Lopez and Affleck, who is three years younger, met on the set of their movie Gigli (2003) and began dating in fall 2002, while she was in the process of getting divorced from her second husband. Popular targets of the paparazzi, the couple became known as “Bennifer” and were frequently featured in celebrity news outlets. “We didn’t try to have a public relationship,” Lopez told People in 2016. “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.”
Their whirlwind romance culminated in an engagement, which they announced in November 2002. However, the couple faced a rocky road down the aisle. Lopez and Affleck planned to marry in September 2003 but canceled the wedding without rescheduling just three days before the ceremony.
“We didn’t break up right at that moment, it happened over the series of the next few months,” Lopez said in a February 2024 interview. “Because what [the cancellation] did was it casted doubt in me, and both of us, about what our relationship was and where it was going, I think. I knew in my heart that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life, I knew that. But it didn’t feel like we were going to make it. And so, it scared me.”
The couple officially broke up in January 2004 after 18 months together. In the ensuing years, both found new love, married (and divorced) other people, and had children. But their many years apart didn’t snuff out their feelings for each other.
Lopez and Affleck rekindled their romance in April 2021 and went official on Instagram in that July. Bennifer 2.0 delighted fans and, most of all, the couple. “I feel so lucky and happy and proud to be with him,” Lopez said in February 2022. “It’s a beautiful love story that we got a second chance.”
In April 2022, the couple got engaged again and were married in Las Vegas on July 17, 2022. They held another wedding ceremony with family and friends on August 20, 2022, at Affleck’s house in Georgia. The next year, Lopez and Affleck purchased a sprawling mansion on a 5-acre property in Beverly Hills, California, together.
Yet, their reunion wasn’t forever. Lopez filed for divorce on the second anniversary of their Georgia wedding ceremony, though she told the court they separated in late April 2024. The legal paperwork didn’t mention whether the couple had a prenuptial agreement.
Ex-Husbands and Other Past Relationships
In addition to Ben Affleck, Lopez has been married three times to Ojani Noa, dancer Cris Judd, and singer Marc Anthony. She has also had a few high-profile relationships, including with baseball player and ex-fiancé Alex Rodriguez.
Kids
Lopez shares twins with her ex-husband Marc Anthony. She gave birth to the baby boy and girl on February 22, 2008. Their names are Maximilian, who goes by Max, and Emme.
The twins were 3 years old when Lopez and Anthony separated in 2011. The former couple’s 2014 divorce settlement awarded primary custody to Lopez, with Anthony getting the children seven days out of every month.
Now teenagers, Emme performed with Lopez at the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show. The star occasionally shares photos of her kids on social media.
Net Worth
Years of hard work have paid off for Lopez. According to Celebrity Net Worth, she is worth $400 million as of August 2024.
Besides music and acting, Lopez also earns income from her role as a television and movie producer. Her production company, Nuyorican Productions, signed a multi-project deal with Netflix in 2021.
Lopez is also an entrepreneur and businesswoman. Her presence in the beauty industry began in 2002 with the launch of her perfume Glow and has expanded to nearly 24 different scents in a partnership with Designer Parfums. Lopez also launched her skincare line, JLo Beauty, in January 2021. Another stream of income for Lopez is endorsement deals which she holds with brands such as DSW, Coach, and more.
Quotes
- I remain an eternal optimist about love. I believe in love. It’s still my biggest dream.
- Don’t expect anybody to hand you anything. We have to work for everything in this life.
- You turn yourself into a pretzel for people and think that that’s a noble thing, to put yourself second. And it’s not… At a certain point you go, “Wait, this doesn’t feel good.”
- I’m finally at the point in my life where I love every part of myself unapologetically; every part of me, my body, my voice, my choices, even, like, my mistakes. All of it made me who I am and got me to where I am today.
- I see myself working [as long as] I want to. I don’t know what that age is. It might be 70, it might be 80, it might be 90, I don’t know. But I know that it’s there for me if I want it and I want to create it. That has always been the mindset that I’ve had: to never let anybody put me in a box because of where I was born, where I’m from, what age I am, anything like that. Those boundaries don’t exist for me.
Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us!
The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us
Emily Shiffer has worked as a writer for over 10 years, covering everything from health and wellness to entertainment and celebrities. She previously was on staff at SUCCESS, Men's Health, and Prevention magazines. Her freelance writing has been featured in Women's Health, Runner's World, PEOPLE, and more. Emily is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she majored in magazine journalism at the Medill School of Journalism and minored in musicology. Currently residing in Charleston, South Carolina, Emily enjoys instructing barre, surfing, and long walks on the beach with her miniature Dachshund, Gertrude.
