A Look At Bennifer’s Romance, Breakup & Recent Restart Through Pictures

It’s been two decades since Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were an item, but they recently reconnected in 2021 following the “Love Don’t Cost A Thing” singer’s split from Alex Rodriguez. That said, it’s worth noting how Bennifer’s relationship first started. This photo was taken on the set of the film Gigli in 2001, which is how the former couple first met. J.Lo was married to Cris Judd at the time.

In that 2002 interview, J.Lo said that she and Affleck were an unlikely couple. “We’ve talked about this so many times, and we talked about how people kind of see him with … one type of person and me with another type of person, and the two of us together is like, ‘How did that happen?’ And how we’re probably more alike and from the same kind of background,” she said. Plus, their chemistry translated just as well onscreen as it did off. In 2003, they went on to star in their second film together, Jersey Girl.

By 2003, Bennifer was one of the most well-known Hollywood couples. In fact, their relationship got so much media attention that the pop star decided to use it to her advantage. In her music video for “Jenny From The Block,” J.Lo included paparazzi footage of her and Affleck on a yacht, at a gas station, at a restaurant, and doing all of the other stuff that in-love couples like to do.

Despite including him in one of her most popular music videos ever, the pair originally planned on keeping their relationship pretty quiet. “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.”

This photo was from the Daredevil premiere in February 2003, and at that point, the pair probably wasn’t aware that they were headed for a split. However, several months after calling off their wedding in September of that year, the couple officially called it quits in January 2004.

Even though they decided to break up, Lopez told Jess Cagle in 2016 that they had a lot of love for each other throughout their relationship. She even said that perhaps things would’ve ended differently if they were given some much-needed privacy. “I think different time, different thing, who knows what could’ve happened, but there was a genuine love there,” she said.

Even years after their split, the exes continued to support each other. In February 2020, for example, Affleck told The New York Times that Lopez should’ve been recognized at the Oscars for Hustlers. “She should have been nominated. She’s the real thing,” he said at the time. “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 f*cking baller.”

Fast forward to 2021 and Affleck is still gushing over J.Lo. In an episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast from January, the actor revealed that people said racist and sexist things about Lopez throughout the course of their relationship. “Ugly, vicious sh*t was written about her in ways that if you wrote it now you would literally be fired for saying those things you said,” he said. “Now it’s like, she’s lionized and respected for the work she did, where she came from, what she accomplished — as well she f*cking should be!”

“Where are you keeping the fountain of youth?” Affleck joked in Lopez’s April 2021 cover story for InStyle. “Why do you look the same as you did in 2003 and it kind of looks like I’m in my 40s … at best?” In addition to her ageless beauty, the actor complimented her incredible work ethic, calling her “the hardest-working person I’ve come across.”

All these years later, there might actually be hope for Bennifer. Not only was Affleck photographed leaving Lopez’s SUV at the end of April 2021, per Page Six, but a People source also said that he visited her at her L.A. home. “They are friends,” another source told the magazine. “They have always been friends, and they have seen each other through the years.”

If you were unsure about how serious things are between J.Lo and Affleck, wonder no more. Lopez is moving to Los Angeles for a “fresh start” with her former fiancé, according to E! News. A source told the outlet that the singer “is packing up her Miami rental” and moving to be closer not only to Affleck, but to her twins Emme and Maximilian. “She will be between L.A. and the Hamptons this summer, but L.A. will be her base,” the insider said. “She is excited about a fresh start and pursuing things with Ben. They will be at their L.A. home soon.”