“From Ben Affleck to Drake to A-Rod, and Back to Ben Affleck: Dive into Jennifer Lopez’s Rollercoaster Romance Saga!”
Jennifer Lopez is a self-proclaimed miserable romantic, who got her cheerful finishing when she rejoined with ex Ben Affleck in 2021, nearly 20 years after the two called off their first wedding in the early ’00s.
Whereas Jennifer Lopez references their long and winding cherish story on ninth studio album This Is often Me … Presently (and the going with film), she also gestures to the numerous high-profile relationships that preceded and followed her fairy-tale sentiment with Affleck. As she says describing the trailer for This Is often Me … Presently: A Love Story: “Whenever somebody asked me what I needed to be when I grew up, my reply was continuously: ‘In love.’”
Bennifer may reign supreme nowadays, but who came before and after Affleck? Ahead, we track all of Lopez’s marriages, engagements, and relationships—from her partnership with vocalist Marc Anthony to her rumored hurl with Drake.
Ben Affleck (2021—present)
Bennifer shocked fans across the world when they revived their romance in April 2021, about two decades after calling off their initial engagement. Things rapidly got serious, with Affleck and Jennifer Lopez getting locked in for a second time the following year.
“Did you ever imagine your greatest dream seem come true?” Jennifer Lopez asked in a extraordinary version of her fan pamphlet, On the JLo. “Saturday night whereas at my favorite place on earth (in the bubble shower), my beautiful cherish got on one knee and proposed. I was taken completely off guard and just looked in his eyes smiling and crying at the same time trying hard to get my head around the reality that after 20 years this was happening all over once more, I was quite literally speechless and he said, ‘is that a yes?’ I said YES of course that’s a YES.”
The two authoritatively tied the tie in a surprise Las Vegas ceremony in July 2022. They celebrated the pre-marriage ceremony with a second, more luxurious wedding in Georgia the following month.
At the tail end of that year, Jennifer Lopez declared the prospective release of This is Me … Presently, which was heavily motivated by her renewed romance with Affleck. “When he came back into my life, again the same thing happened, where I felt so propelled and so overwhelmed with feeling that it was just pouring out of me,” she told Zane Lowe in an meet for Apple Music. “When I feel great, I compose music. And I composed music, and I got in the studio in I think May, and by August when we got married, it was done.”
Affleck has similarly been open about his worship for his wife since their unforeseen get-together.
“She is unimaginably knowledgeable about the way fashion advances through the culture as a intersection of music, sports, entertainment and dance,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2023.
And during a red carpet event, he told Entertainment Tonight, “She’s brilliant and [she] helps me in each conceivable way.”
Alex Rodriguez (2017—2021)
In a 2019 meet with Sports Illustrated, Lopez reflected on assembly MLB player Alex Rodriguez for the primary time at a 2005 Yankees game in New York City: “We shook hands, and it was this weird electricity for, like, three seconds … Three to five seconds of looking at some person right in their eyes, and getting stuck.”
But it would be over 10 years before the two eventually reconnected and begun dating. “I was having lunch somewhere and I saw him as he passed by. A while later, I went outside, and for a few reason I felt like tapping him on the shoulder,” Jennifer Lopez reviewed in 2017, during a visitor appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “He texted me, said, ‘Let’s go out to dinner,’ and I said, ‘Okay.’ We had a pleasant dinner.”
All through their years long romance, J. Lo and A-Rod made multiple high-profile appearances together at occasions just like the Met Gala, the Golden Globes, the Oscars, and the Grammys. Rodriguez also went with Lopez to her performance at Joe Biden’s presidential introduction in January 2021.
They reported their engagement in 2019, but plans for their wedding were delayed due to the flare-up of the COVID-19 widespread in 2020. At that point, in April 2021, the couple declared their split. “We have realized we are better as friends and look forward to remaining so,” they said in a joint explanation at the time. “We will proceed to work together and support each other on our shared businesses and projects. We wish the best for each other and one another’s children. Out of respect for them, the only other comment we have to say is thank you to everybody who has sent kind words and support.”
At the time, a source for E! News explained on Lopez’s reasoning for finishing the engagement. “After months of questioning things and battling, Jennifer felt like she could no longer believe Alex anymore,” the insider said.
Drake (2016)
Jennifer Lopez was rumored to be dating Drake after the rapper was spotted cheering her on at her “All I Have” Las Vegas residency in December 2016. What followed was a streak of now-deleted cuddly Instagram posts, which included a photo of Lopez lying over Drake’s lap and another snap of the two grasping at a party. “She’s having fun,” a source told E! News at the time.
Jennifer Lopez at last put the rumors to rest amid a 2017 interview on The Daily Show. “Let me clear this up,” she said. “I am not with Drake.”
Drake appeared to reference the end of their fling in a 2018 track titled “Diplomatic Immunity,” on which he raps:
“2010 was when I misplaced my halo / 2017 I misplaced a J.Lo.”
Casper Smart (2011—2016)
Jennifer Lopez began dating Casper Smart, who worked for her as a backup artist, shortly after her split from Anthony in 2011. A source told Individuals that the sentiment with Smart, who is 18 years her junior, was “a fun fling” and “not meant to turn into anything more.” The two created an on-again, off-again relationship before ultimately calling it quits in 2016.
Although starting reports claimed that the breakup was neighborly, an insider later told People that Smart had cheated on Jennifer Lopez. “She kicked him out since he cheated on her and he got caught,” the source said. “It happened two years prior, and he guaranteed he would never do it again, and once he did, she was done.”
Marc Anthony (2004—2011)
WhenJennifer Lopez met artist Marc Anthony while he was performing in Paul Simon’s 1998 Broadway musical The Capeman, he allegedly first told her, “One day you’re going to be my wife,” according to Lopez’s memoir True Love. Over the years that taken after, Jennifer Lopez and Anthony kept up a close friendship, with the two collaborating on music together in spite of seeing other people.
Months after ending her first engagement to Affleck, Lopez married Anthony in a mystery ceremony in June 2004. Years afterward, she reflected on receiving support from Anthony after that first breakup with Affleck. “To have one of my best friends, who I’d known for years, who I actually love and did have chemistry with, come into my life and say, ‘I’m here,’” she told Nowadays in 2014. “What you wish to know is, nobody can save you or heal you only you’ll do that for you.”
In 2008, the couple invited twins Max and Emme. “Jennifer Lopez and Marc are pleased, excited, and over the moon,” Jennifer Lopez’s director told People at the time.
The couple officially went their separate ways in 2011, but they kept on be close friends and collaborators. Just a couple of months after they separated, they worked together as judges on dance competition series Q’Viva! The Chosen. In 2016, they released a cover of “Olvídame y Pega la Vuelta,” which they performed together at the Latin Grammys later that year.
“Honestly, we’re always gonna be awesome friends. I’m continuously gonna be there for him; he’s continuously gonna be there for me,” Jennifer Lopez said of her ex-husband in a 2017 interview on Live With Kelly.
In 2018, Jennifer Lopez credited Anthony with boosting her self-esteem as a artist. “While I was married to Marc, he truly helped me with my confidence, and he saw where I suffered,” she said on Sunday Today. “[He would say,] ‘You’re a great singer. Don’t ever let anyone tell you you’re not a awesome singer.’ And I regarded him so much because I consider him one of the best artists of all time.”
Anthony similarly praised Lopez after their split. During a 2017 red carpet interview with Extra, he said, “We’ve always been [in a good place] from day one, you know. We met working—20-something years prior we met, working. She’s my goombah—that’s my girl—for life.” He added, “If you need to urge along with a woman, just get divorced.”
Ben Affleck (2002—2004)
Jennifer Lopez met Affleck in 2001 on the set of rom-com Gigli, in which they costarred. In the blink of an eye after going public with her split from husband Cris Judd, Lopez and Affleck debuted their relationship—and Bennifer was born.
Bennifer reigned the early 2000s as the It couple. Lopez later reflected on the media frenzy over their romance in a 2016 interview with Individuals:
“We didn’t attempt to have a open relationship. 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.”
They quickly got engaged in 2002, with Affleck famously proposing to Lopez with a 6.1-carat pink precious stone from Harry Winston that reportedly cost him $2.5 million. But in 2003, they postponed their wedding. “Due to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding, we have chosen to postpone the date,” the pair clarified in a joint explanation at the time. “When we found ourselves truly contemplating hiring three separate ‘decoy brides’ at three different areas, we realized that something was awry. We started to feel that the soul of what should have been the most joyful day of our lives may be compromised. We felt what should have been a blissful and sacred day can be spoiled for us, our families, and our friends.”
The wedding never happened, with the couple officially calling it quits by January 2004. Lopez called the conclusion of their relationship her “first enormous heartbreak” in a 2014 interview with Today.
In spite of that, the two occasionally kept in touch over the a long time (and through their different marriages). “We do not have the kind of relationship where she relies on me for advice,” Affleck told The Hollywood Reporter in 2012, when he was married to actor Jennifer Garner. “But we do have the kind of relationship where there’ll be an e-mail saying, ‘Oh, your movie looks great.’ I remember when she got American Idol. I said:
‘This was really smart. Great luck.’”
And, as destiny would have it, their story didn’t conclusion there.
Cris Judd (2001—2002)
Jennifer Lopez met her second husband, choreographer and artist Cris Judd, on the set of her “Love Do not Cost a Thing” music video, which he directed. The two got married in September 2001 and recorded for divorce just nine months afterward, in July 2002.
“Coming out of a torrid relationship, I meet this sweet individual who’s so refreshing,” Jennifer Lopez clarified in a 2003 meet with Vibe. “But marriage isn’t just about adore. I thought I had learned that in my first marriage … I loved Cris, still love him, he’s one of the most excellent individuals. This wasn’t a simple thing to walk away from, but we didn’t have what it takes to make a marriage work.”
As for Judd, he reflected on their brief relationship in a 2014 interview with Us Weekly, citing the challenges of being connected to a high-profile celebrity. “You know, it’s very tough,” he said. “Your privacy is breached. You’re not a ordinary individual. [Our wedding] was a circus. I think a few individuals got arrested trying to climb up a mountain … attempting to sneak in. We really leased the airspace.”
Eventually, the privacy issues didn’t contribute to the breakdown of their marriage. “It had no bearing on the result of a relationship,” he said. “Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs (1999—2001)
Jennifer Lopez famously started dating Sean Combs—a.k.a. Puff Daddy, a.k.a. P. Diddy, a.k.a. just plain Diddy—in 1999, around the time she released her debut album, On the 6. Together, the two were one of Hollywood’s greatest power couples, with Diddy by Lopez’s side for some of her most career-defining fashion moments. (Who can forget that plunging green Versace dress at the 2000 Grammys?)
Two years after they broke up, Jennifer Lopez reflected on the relationship in an interview with Vibe, implying that infidelity had led to the split.
“It was the first time I was with somebody who wasn’t faithful,” she said. “I was in this relationship with Puff where I was completely crying, insane, and going nuts, it truly took my entirety life in a spiral … I never caught him, but I just knew. He’d say he was going to a club for a couple of hours and after that never come back that night.”
Ojani Noa (1997—1998)
Jennifer Lopez met her first husband, Ojani Noa, whereas he was a server at a Cuban eatery in Miami. They marry in 1997 before separating in January 1998, after 11 months of marriage.
The two appeared to stay on great terms for a few time, with Lopez even contracting Noa to manage a Cuban eatery she opened in Los Angeles in 2002 for a $1,000 a week. When she fired him six months afterward, Noa allegedly sued her for breach of contract. The claim finished in a settlement that prohibited Noa from publicly disparaging or revealing intimate details about Lopez for monetary gain. In spite of that, Noa started to shop around for a book that covered his brief marriage to Lopez, for which she sued him in 2006.
Things got even more unfriendly in 2009, when Lopez sent cease-and-desist letters to Noa for starting production on a mockumentary titled How I Married Jennifer Lopez: The J.Lo and and Ojani Noa Story. The movie’s producer, Claudia Vazquez, attempted to sue Lopez for $10 million for interfering with the production. A judge ultimately dismissed the lawsuit.
All through the years of lawful conflict, Noa and his business partners threatened to release home-video tapes of Jennifer Lopez from their honeymoon—though a judge prohibited the tapes from being discharged in 2009.
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