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The Complete Relationship History Between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez Amid Divorce Proceedings

Couples

Sep 22, 2024 11:20 pm·

By Mike Hammer

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Ever since Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez first got together in the early 2000s, fans haven’t been able to get enough of the A-list pair.

While the couple has had their ups and definitely their downs, what hasn’t changed is the fact that the world has been eager to keep up with Bennifer since it all began in 2002.

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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's Complete Relationship Timeline

Early 2002

Ben and Jen met on the set of their movie Gigli. Jenny from the Block was married to her second husband, Cris Judd, at the time, but the relationship between the costars sizzled and Jen filed for divorce from Cris in June the same year.

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November 2022

After just a few months of a whirlwind romance, Ben proposed to the “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” singer with something that definitely cost a lot of things – a custom-made Harry Winston six-carat pink-diamond solitaire ring.

When asked by Dateline’s Pat O’Brian when they fell in love, Jen answered, “You can’t pinpoint it. We became friends first. That is the honest to God truth.”

She also reassured Diane Sawyer that her mother approved of Ben around the same time.

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2003

Lucky in love but not so much at the box office, Bennifer filmed their second movie together, Jersey Girl, which bombed financially in early 2003.

It was also around this time the couple started feeling the heat from the paparazzi as the world demanded more of the desirable duo. Jen would go on to describe the madness in 2016, saying, “It was like, ‘Oh my God.’ It was just a lot of pressure.”

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September 2003

The pressure caught up with the couple when, just a few days before they were set to tie the knot, Ben and Jen decided to call off the wedding, saying, “Due to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding, we have decided to postpone the date.”

“When we found ourselves seriously contemplating hiring three separate decoy brides at three different locations, we realized that something was awry,” they stated.

They remained engaged but didn’t set a new date for the wedding, publicly at least.

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January 2004

“Everything’s going along fine. We’re good,” Ben told reporters at Sundance early that month.

But they were not.

Just before Bennifer was to attend the Golden Globes together, their publicists individually released statements letting fans know they ended their engagement on January 22.

Jennifer would later say calling off their wedding was “the worst heartbreak of my life” in a November 2022 interview with Zane Lowe of Apple Music 1.

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March 2016

Jennifer told Jess Cagle “there was a genuine love there” while speaking about Ben. It marked the first time either had spoken publicly about the engagement that was called off over 10 years prior.

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February 2020

Ben backed Jen and then lets it slip that he keeps up with his ex.

“She should have been nominated. She’s the real thing,” the Oscar-winning actor said of his long-lost flame’s role in Hustlers to the New York Times’ Brooks Barnes.

“I keep in touch periodically with her and have a lot of respect for her.”

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January 2021

Ben lost his cool reflecting on how unfairly the media treated him and Jen during their engagement while recording the “Awards Chatter” podcast for The Hollywood Reporter.

“People were so f–king mean about her — sexist, racist,” the actor said during the interview.

“Ugly, vicious s–t was written about her in ways that if you wrote it now, you would literally be fired for saying those things.”

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April 2021

Following Ben’s split from Ana de Armas and J. Lo ending her engagement to Yankees’ star Alex Rodriguez, In Touch snapped a photo of the actor heading to his former fiancée’s house in a white SUV.

“They have a great time hanging out,” a source told People that month. “It’s been years since they caught up properly. They have lots to talk about. They plan on hanging out again.”

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May 2021

Just after it was confirmed Bennifer was hanging out again, the two of them took a vacation to Big Sky ranch in Montana.

“They looked very happy together,” an insider told Us Weekly of the trip. “It was just the two of them on vacation together. Big Sky is a special place to Ben.”

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May 2021

A source told Us Weekly Ben and Jen had “always loved each other” and her friends “won’t be surprised if they end up together.”

A second source confirmed that the duo had a “heart-to-heart” following their breakups in April, which “reignited a spark between them.”

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July 2021

An insider confirmed that Bennifer was once again a thing!

“Jen and Ben are both very happy with each [other] and are excited to see where the relationship goes,” the insider said after the duo flew to Miami for a romantic getaway.

“They are full-on dating and very happy together.”

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July 2021

A source close to the pair told In Touch they were “fully committed” to starting a future together and planned “on moving in together very soon.”

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July 2021

The couple made their social media debut in Leah Remini’s birthday video.

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July 2021

J. Lo jetted to Nice, France, with boyfriend Ben in tow for her 52nd birthday. The “Dance Again” singer even posted a video of the two kissing to her Instagram.

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September 2021

Bennifer made their first appearance on the red carpet as a couple in over 18 years – since Gigli’s premiere in August 2003 – for Ben’s movie The Last Duel at the Venice International Film Festival.

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September 2021

Ben took his children from his marriage to Jennifer Garner, Fin and Violet, out with his girlfriend and her twins, Max and Emme, to bond on a group outing to a movie in L.A.

As Ben and J. Lo rekindled their romance, their own children grew close, as well.

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February 2022

The Marry Me star said she and Ben were trying to keep their relationship private because they remember the publicity circus of their early ’00s romance.

“I think what we learned from the last time is that love, when you are lucky enough to find it, is so sacred and special and you have to hold a little bit of that privately and that’s what we’ve learned,” Lopez said during an appearance on Today. “But we’re very happy, if that’s what you are wondering about.”

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March 2022

The two began looking at dream homes and Ben accompanied Jen while she accepted the Icon Award at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards.

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April 2022

Bennifer 2.0 came full circle as the couple announced they were engaged – again!

On April 8, J. Lo sent out a heartfelt video with the big reveal to her fans, which included a peek at a huge, green diamond engagement ring on her finger.

She even revealed how Ben proposed, saying, “Saturday night while at my favorite place on earth (in the bubble bath), my beautiful love got on one knee and proposed.”

“I was taken totally off guard and just looked in his eyes smiling and crying at the same time trying hard to get my head around the fact that after 20 years this was happening all over again, I was quite literally speechless and he said, ‘Is that a yes?’”

“I said ‘YES of course that’s a YES.’”

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June 2022

Jennifer talked about her plans to “build a family” with her new fiancé, Ben.

“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,” the actress 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.”

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July 2022

The couple officially tied the knot and certified their marriage license on July 16 in Las Vegas.

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July 2022

The pair took to Paris on their first honeymoon!

They enjoyed intimate dates and walks throughout the City of Light, posting photos along the way.

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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s Complete Relationship Timeline

The couple held a second, more formal three-day ceremony in Georgia, followed by a Lake Como second honeymoon!

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September 2022

Jen described the ceremony as “perfect” for fans via her On the J. Lo newsletter.

“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.”

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October 2022

A source told the Daily Mail about the couple’s “honeymoon phase.”

“Ben and Jen are still in their honeymoon phase,” the insider said. “They are very head over heels for each other.”

The source also dished that the two were house shopping, adding, “They’re looking at homes to purchase together and hoping to find one they’re both happy with. It’s been an ongoing process.”

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November 2022

Jennifer said calling off their wedding 20 years prior was “was so painful … it was the biggest heartbreak of my life.”

“I honestly felt like I was going to die.”

She also discussed her new album, This Is Me… Now, about which she said her romance with Ben made her feel “so inspired and so overtaken with emotion that it was just pouring out of me.”

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February 2023

Jen revealed through an Instagram post the two got coordinated tattoos to solidify their bond.

“Commitment,” the singer wrote in the caption. “Happy Valentine’s Day my love.”

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May 2023

After years of house hunting, the pair finally settled on their dream home – setting them back $61 million.

Jen even gave her Instagram followers a tour shortly after they moved in.

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April 2024

The couple separated, choosing to spend time on opposite coasts for the upcoming summer.

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May 2024

After Jen flew solo to the Met Gala, rumors rang out that the two were having problems.

In Touch exclusively reported the couple was headed for a divorce, which, after the legal filings became public, was 100 percent accurate, as they listed their date of separation as April 26.

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May 2024

A source revealed that Ben has moved out of their marital home and was flying solo, seeking the comfort of his ex wife, Jennifer Garner.

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May 2024

Ben and Jen were spotted together for the first time in 47 days, to attend his child Fin’s school play.

Marital problems aside, the couple seemed to be putting on a brave face, at least for the kids’ sake.

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July 2024

The couple spent the 4th of July weekend apart.

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July 2024

The couple publicly listed their marital home for sale for $68 million.

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July 2024

Jen attended her 55th birthday party in the Hamptons solo, while Ben closed on a new $20 million bachelor pad in Pacific Palisades, California, the very same day.

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August 2024

Jennifer filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court on August 20, 2024.

It fell on the date of the second anniversary of the estranged couple’s wedding.

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