Ben Affleck & Jennifer Lopez are ‘madly in love’ & ‘the loves of each other’s lives’

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I had a sixth sense prediction that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s romance would be this week’s People Magazine cover and I was right! People decided to ignore the royal dramas and whatever else is happening in gossip. They know the Bennifer Revival is the perfect storm of feel-good fun gossip, nostalgia, a middle-aged love story and aspirational living (for real estate alone!). The cover story isn’t particularly revealing, it’s basically what we all know: Ben and Jen went from “casually seeing each other just days after her split with A-Rod” to “ready to settle down with each other for life.”

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are serious about their rekindled romance. A Hollywood insider tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that the pair “are madly in love” and “the loves of each other’s lives.”

The couple originally began dating in July 2002 and got engaged that November before postponing their September 2003 wedding days before the date. They ultimately called off their engagement in January 2004. They were first spotted spending time together again in April.

A source close to Lopez, 51, and Affleck, 48, says Affleck is “very happy” with Lopez, and that “she’s wonderful for him.”

“They want to do everything they can to make this work,” adds a Lopez source.

Sources also tell PEOPLE that Lopez’s son Max and daughter Emme, 13, are “slowly getting to know” Affleck,” and that “everything seems to be running smoothly” as she house hunts in Los Angeles.

“Emme and Max are on board with starting fresh in L.A.,” says the Lopez insider, adding that the twins will also continue to spend time in Miami with dad Marc Anthony.

Of the connection between the Hustlers star and two-time Oscar winner, the Lopez source says: “Even though their split many years ago was devastating for Jennifer, she has never had a bad word to say about Ben. She believes that it just wasn’t meant to be then and feels like they’ve been given a second chance.”

[From People]

A lot of people are like “it’s wrong to introduce kids to new partners so quickly” but my take is that Jennifer’s kids probably disliked A-Rod anyway. A-Rod was and is a douche, and Emme in particular seems to like Ben. As for this “loves of each other’s lives” business… I mean, that’s pretty rough for their lovers/spouses/partners who came in between OG Bennifer and Revival Bennifer. That being said, Jen hasn’t looked this happy in decades, and Ben seems… content. I’m sure he’ll f–k it up somehow, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how chill he has been thus far.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck go for an evening stroll in The Hamptons

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

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77 Responses to “Ben Affleck & Jennifer Lopez are ‘madly in love’ & ‘the loves of each other’s lives’”

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  1. MerlinsMom1018 says:

    and?????

    • Me says:

      Exactly—same old story. This is the love-bombing phase. Everything is great until it isn’t. Sure, Ben has had his kids with the ‘right kind of woman,’ so that pressure is gone, but he’s still the dude that left JLo at the altar to gamble and chase strippers. He’s sober (ish?), not magically a different person—he’s a person who self-sabotages and leaves.

      • Sigmund says:

        Yeah, one of the exes (Ana? Jen Garner?) said he does this all the time. He love bombs and then self sabotages.

        Honestly, I’d love for them to settle down and be happy and healthy, I just don’t think Ben is wired that way.

      • KissMyA**23 says:

        I think it was him, back when Pearl Harbor came out, he was fresh off of a relationship with Gwenyth Paltrow and talked about it to GQ. I’m too lazy to look it up but I think it was him.

      • Christine says:

        They are the famous version of hooking up with your ex via social media, behaving like rabbits, and then it goes wrong exactly the same way it did the first time. See: Me, and my high school boyfriend, 12 years ago. Still not my true love.

    • minx says:

      It’s just the usual People pablum.

  2. Hyrule Castle says:

    I always feel for children who might one day read these stories, people magazine splashing it everywhere.
    Even if the next person is the “love of your life” (whatever THAT means), those kids now know their other parent wasn’t.
    It’s pretty hard to reconcile.
    Like when people, Gwen I think? Got her marriage annulled!
    Poor kids.

    • Maria says:

      Honestly this.
      It’s fine if you feel that way in private but there is no need to publicize it like this.

      • LillyfromLillooet says:

        I think their private feelings are likely a great mystery even to them. This is intentionally being put out there.

      • observer says:

        agree lilly introspection does not seem to be something theyre actually familiar with, just a fake construct of it to be projected out to the public

    • Katherine says:

      As a child of a divorce, lol. I don’t know which sheltered/naive/pink-glasses-wearing kids you are talking about but from where I stand it’s no news parents had problems and are better, (way, way better) off apart.

      • Maria says:

        I’m another child of a bitter divorce and it would have been way more difficult to read about my parents’ new romances in a public medium like this, in this way.

        There’s healthily moving on because you are better apart which is great- and then there’s the narrative that erases the previous partner, which is not so great because it can feel like it erases you.

      • Hyrule Castle says:

        @ Katherine

        None of which means damage isn’t being done.

      • Hyrule Castle says:

        @ Maria

        I’m also a child of divorce and victim of domestic violence.
        My fathers new gf, now wife, he told us “she is my life now”.

        No doubt my parents were better off apart.
        No doubt the pain of being so easily replaced as important in my fathers life has shaped my life, and I’m still spending time undoing the multitude of damage.
        Some of which is directly related to knowing I ceased to matter to him.

        My thoughts are always with the kids.

      • Maria says:

        I understand totally Hyrule. My thoughts are with you <3

    • Emily H says:

      I totally agree with you. It is not necessary to say this person is the “love of my life” when there is an ex wife and children involved. It is fine if that is the case, but there is no need to say it and disrespect and downplay the ex and the mother of your kids. Now, I do realize Ben / Jen probably didn’t say this and it is just some dumb reporter. But still. I feel the same way about my new husband, but I would never, ever say it because it is mean, tacky, and unnecessary to “compare” lovers/spouses in this way.

    • tig says:

      Gwen didn’t get her marriage legally annulled, but religiously annulled, if for no other reason than for her personally to continue to take sacraments. Kids don’t become illegimate because of this Catholic technicality.

    • Christine says:

      ME TOO!

  3. Julia K says:

    I wonder if this would have happened sooner if not for Jennifer Garner pregnancy and subsequent marriage.

    • Queen Meghan’s Hand says:

      I wonder that too. But it’s better this way: she had her children with a musical legend, and he had his kids with the archetypal American mom. They don’t need to co-parent just love.

    • Susan says:

      My prediction is no, because:
      1. JLo wasn’t quite as respected as she is now. (Oscar nominee, relevant for 20+ years in a fickle industry, aging amazingly). Back then, she was a startlet turned pop star (that many questioned her talent) and that many thought would be a pop culture footnote.
      2. Ben has had many love bomb situations…and unfortunately will probably have many more.
      3. Being married didn’t stop him from…the nanny, allegedly Blake Lively, etc. I am sure there were others we didn’t hear about.

      • Jayna says:

        True. And Jennifer Garner said how Ben won her over was his wonderful emails wooing her. I’m paraphrasing. I’m sure it was all done while she was with her co-star and Ben was working his magic in his emails, much like it appears he did with JLO, as a source (JLO’s camp) mentioned.

      • serena says:

        @Jayna Oh lord, I didn’t know he wooed Jennifer Garner by email too.. so that’s his mo I guess.. pretty gross all things considered.

  4. Amy Bee says:

    What about Ben’s children? How do they feel about JLo?

    • KissMyA**23 says:

      LOL… this is from JLO’s team obviously, so they don’t matter don’tcha know!

      I personally love how the only thing they have to say about Ben is he’s “very happy” with Lopez. Uh-huh, sure. Let’s just wait till her bday and see how that goes. She’s turning 52.

    • Jegede says:

      Exactly.

      I mean……… 😕😕😕😕

  5. fluffy_bunny says:

    I thought JLo’s kids were pretty close to ARod’s kids and were pretty upset about the break up. Emme doesn’t look happy in any of the pictures I’ve seen.

  6. Karisma says:

    I do think ben was the love her life. She did say in her book true love in 2014 that he was her first real heartbreak.
    I wish them the best, I hope Ben gonna get his shit together and be able to reign on his self destructive tendencies

  7. Mel says:

    What do you think they’re going to say in a PR dump? The kids hate the move and are mad about having their lives upended AGAIN for ANOTHER man? Even if those kids thought A-ROD was a douche ( and I don’t think they did, even though he is) this is not an all great from them. They don’t even get to have privacy, they have to perform happiness in front of the paps their Mom’s PR team calls. They know how their Mom is so they roll with it, they adapt.

  8. Case says:

    J.L does look extremely happy. Her kids were close to A.Rod’s kids though, so even if they didn’t care for him, I still feel bad that they’re dealing with this whiplash based on their mother’s whims.

    • BothSidesNow says:

      I agree Case! It’s a very difficult age for JLo’s twins that they are being pulled left and right. They had a very strong bond with ARods kids and for her not to take their well-being in mind, will cause unhappiness and resentment of their part. You can’t treat your kids as if they will just easily adjust with her actions. Kids aren’t resilient as everyone thinks!

    • Normades says:

      Agree Case.
      Just because he’s a douche doesn’t mean he wasn’t nice to the kids and their kids were close.
      I’m one of those people that don’t think you should introduce your kids to your bf until you’re absolutely sure. As a kid I hated meeting my mother’s boyfriends.

  9. Jules says:

    Yup. A basic understanding of family systems and psychology is a good thing.

  10. Linda says:

    She always looks supposedly emotionally happy. Someone who is always jumping from one relationship is not at peace.

  11. WithTheAmerican says:

    Just staaaaahhhhp JLo. Jfc, if it is true love, it will stand the test of a year.

    I love the tag line, “why it’s working this time”- it’s only been a few months! Every relationship is working for a few months.

  12. Lory says:

    To be fair, Alex Rodriguez was the only person she dated since separating from their father. She has had a significant dating history, but she hasn’t introduced her children to several men.
    I imagine they have also known about JLo’s history with Ben and have possibly even met him before.

    • Kristic says:

      She dated that Caspar guy after her split from Marc. I’m embarrassed that I know this.

    • Jayna says:

      Casper was with her for five years (with a couple of breakups in that five years) and very involved with the children.

  13. yokoohno says:

    I’m surprised there’s so many high and mighty comments about “her poor children” 🙄 I guess there are a lot of different perspectives on divorce because I am also a child of divorce and I think some of these comments are pretty sexist.

    Even if I was close to a potential step-dad’s kids, if he was cheating on my Mom and her old love came back to her I’d be cheering her on.

    Are women just not supposed to have relationships after divorce unless they can be super secretive about it?? This is not the standard divorced men are held to…

    I think the worst thing you can do is stay in a relationship that isn’t working. THAT is what is hard on kids, from my personal experience.

    And personally, I certainly wouldn’t want all this judgy outrage on my behalf. But again, that’s my perspective and clearly there’s different ones here.

    • Mel says:

      No one is saying that women aren’t supposed to have relationships, of course they are. I don’t believe divorce is a problem either, people should NOT stay together if they’re unhappy, what we’re talking about is that JLo makes her kids a part of EVERY relationship she has. I was a single Mom, every guy I dated, did NOT meet my son. I did not force my son to have familial relationships with the ones he did meet. If Ben Affleck was forcing his kids into all of his relationships, I’d give him the same shade I’m giving her. Fortunately, they live with their Mom and whatever she does is mostly quiet. What Jlo is doing is not good parenting, famous, non-famous, man or woman. It’s selfish and it sucks.

      • Al says:

        @Mel JLo has only introduced her children to 2 other men. She dated Casper for 5 years and ARod for 4 so it’s not realistic that she would have avoided involving her kids. And both relationships ended because they cheated on her.

        Ben and Jennifer Garner have joint physical custody, they definitely stay at his place too

    • Case says:

      It has nothing to do with sexism. I’m glad that J.Lo got away from A.Rod if it was a bad relationship or if he was cheating on her. But there’s a difference between starting a new relationship for yourself versus immediately, fully integrating your life with your new partner, kids included. Kids don’t need to be dragged into every new relationship the moment it begins. I respect adults, both men and women, who don’t involve their kids in their relationships until they’ve been together a few months and feel confident it will continue/that their partner will remain a supportive figure in their kids’ lives. I’ve said the same thing many times on here about male and female stars who are parents.

    • Jules says:

      oh no’s, someone is pulling out the sexist policing over something that is clearly not sexist.

    • iconoclast59 says:

      Um, @yokoohno, JLo’s “old love” is also a cheater, plus Ben has alcohol and gambling addictions which have been well-documented in the press. That’s more than enough to justify the “too fast, too soon” concerns expressed here. And while I agree with you that it’s sexist to judge a woman for serial relationships, many here have pointed out that JLo has NEVER been on her own for an extended period of time. She seems to need a man in her life always, which I find a bit sad as a feminist myself.

    • Jaded says:

      Jennifer was single for a New York minute then jumped right back into a relationship with a man who was a known cheater, gambler, boozer, druggie, the guy was a total train wreck. Her kids are old enough to see their mom all over the media – “reunited and in love again” – and that’s confusing to kids. She needs to go slow but no, like always she jumps out of the gate and back into the saddle within days of announcing her breakup. Mr. Jaded and I got back together after 35 years apart. He’d divorced the year before and came looking for me. We took it very slowly – didn’t tell his daughter for months after we started seeing each other. I wasn’t introduced to his then 4 year old granddaughter for over a year. Granted we’re not celebrities, but this is how you do it so it’s not upsetting to children and grandchildren. They had enough to deal with from his ex, she’s a raging narcissist and drama queen. Today I have a great relationship with them and they consider me family but you can’t be selfish about this and make it all about yourself. Personally I don’t think Bennifer 2.0 will last because Ben is a self-destructive jerk who will likely fall off the wagon at some point or find another nanny to bang.

  14. psl says:

    Yeah, we’ll see how long this lasts.

  15. Carolnr says:

    They are in love with ” being in love”. I will say though that the fact that JL’s 2 children were seen coming out of the same therapist office as Ben’s 3 children ( prior) , tells me that they both recognize that their children may be struggling! I think Emme had a great bond with Arod’s girls & probably misses seeing them! Taking blended children to Disneyland & to other fun summer activities is a far cry from having them coexist with each other on an everyday basis, but it is a start. What child ( ren) wouldn’t have fun with other children going to Disneyland?

  16. Shirley says:

    Don’t forget Ben has three children.
    It isn’t only JLo’s children that are involved.
    Jennifer Garner did everything possible to keep him alive and make it possible for them to maintain a close relationship with Ben.
    I believe they have a close relationship with their mother and the immature comments about another woman being the love of his life are coming from Jennifer Lopez.
    She is extremely insensitive and self absorbed. If things were going so well with Ben she wouldn’t need keep trying to convince everyone.
    He cheated on left Jennifer Lopez deliberately before the wedding because she was not the love of HIS life.

    • Carolnr says:

      @ Shirley
      I think Ben’s children all probably still go see a therapist when needed. (At least they should, particularly with sadly , dealing with an alcoholic, addictive father) Jennifer was quoted as saying ” if I could have done one thing.,..Gary Winick, the director of 13 Going on 30. He said you need to be in Al-Anon. You are with someone who has this & whether
      he’s sober right now or not, or whether it’s an issue right now or not, you need to be in Al-Anon. What I would give to have heard that wisdom and to have gone back and taken his advice.” If JL is truly wanting to make this relationship work, she needs to be in Al-Anon. Jennifer Garner also was madly in love with Ben once upon a time…..

    • Jegede says:

      Yeah I mean the original Bennifer ending was messy & humiliating.

      Affleck, like a gentleman, revealed the tail end of the relationship, gave him the same sense of of relief you get when you throw up.😕😕

      But yeah twu love.🙄

      • Carolnr says:

        @JEGEDE
        Enlighten me…when did Ben say that?
        I was basically stating that love is blind sometimes. I am sure JL is just as blind as JG was! The big difference is that JG did not have children to consider in the mix…

  17. CooCooCatchoo says:

    I bet she’s glad that their original engagement ring sold at auction long ago. Ain’t no way she’d wear that ugly-ass, pink monstrosity today.
    Also, the photos of them house hunting crack me up. I see Ben’s reunion sex glow had worn off. He’s back to looking his miserable old self again. You can almost see him thinking, “WTF am I DOING?!?”

    • Jayna says:

      LOL I can almost see that also, like a cartoon, with that quote coming from Ben in the cartoon.

  18. Emily says:

    I’m actually rooting for them. Hopefully they’ve learned and can make it work this time. They do seem in love and Bennifer 1.0 eclipsed other relationships/marriages they’ve had since.

    • Tiff says:

      Me too!!! They both seem happy too, I feel like Ben has been sad divorced Dad for so long now that I can’t hardly remember a genuine smile from him until the Bennifer reunion. Plus, maybe they were each other’s one that got away… every single one of Jlo’s exes says that about her.

  19. Moo says:

    She looks like Angelina Jolie in the cover photo. Would be wonderful for them if they really are the loves of each other’s lives. Sometimes that happens in middle or older age — we rediscover someone who has been there all along.

  20. Ishqthecat says:

    JLo’s kids aren’t exactly babies. My twins are 14. If I had a new love in my life, the kids wouldn’t stop bugging me until I introduced them to him. I think it would be much worse to sneak around and lie to teens that you aren’t seeing someone new when it would be plain to see that you were suddenly happy, infatuated and disappeared out of the house much more often. You can hide things like that from a small child but not from a perceptive teen. I am sure there are some teens who are so into their video games that they couldn’t care less who Mum was dating but that many would be very upset to not be included in that part of a parent’s life. What if the kids think a move and a change of school would be cool? Mine are constantly nagging us to move abroad with them for a few years so they can go to a school somewhere else.

    • Maria says:

      That’s the thing about kids though. They’re children and don’t have the life experience or emotional knowledge to navigate this kind of thing.
      Kids bug parents for things all the time – permission to go out later than is probably best, clothes that are more expensive and not great quality but trendy, junk foods, video games etc. It’s the parent’s job to to be protective and on the lookout for that. Sometimes saying yes is good. Sometimes it isn’t.
      There’s nothing stopping a parent from telling their child they have a partner, but it’s up to the parent itself to say “I would be happy to introduce you when it is on a footing I think is stable enough” and to explain that – which in most situations would be best.

  21. Theo says:

    Missing of sensitivity chip! His daughter is sixteen years old, respect her feelings!

  22. Jayna says:

    J-Lo’s kids didn’t dislike A-Rod. He was very loving and affectionate with her kids and, of course, they loved this kids. I think the split was hard on them and mom bouncing straight to Ben and thus why she’s taking them to a child psychologist. Ben is a moody guy. The adjustment to Ben is going to be trickier.

  23. Joan Callamezzo says:

    If these two had stayed private about this and made a public appearance months from now we wouldn’t be able to speculate about any of this. Their kids would have more privacy. We wouldn’t know the timeline at all. I think they’re ridiculous being so public and having Benny Medina give these updates. This isn’t going to work long term. They are incredibly successful but they need to work on themselves and date themselves and focus on their children. I’m just saying.

  24. You Know Me says:

    I don’t believe a word of their ‘romance’ it’s all PR & papped driven. Nope. No love. JLo is a sad, sad empty woman.

  25. Darla says:

    I don’t know. I do think people really gloss over the fact that Ben was very apparently 100% faithful to Ana and clean the entire time. And he got clean before he met Ana. So he didn’t do it for a woman. I know he can backslide, but I am someone who really hopes he doesn’t. But the point is, he’s been clean for more than a minute now. As far as the love of my life thing…I have one, my ex husband. I am not in Garner’s position, I was the love of his life too. But we didn’t make it. Ten years and we divorced. I was thinking about this, and if someone asked me in front of any of my subsequent partners, I would not say he was the love of my life. It’s just something I keep to myself. So yeah, you guys are right about that. It is unnecessary. At least now. Save it for your old-age memoirs, or if you make it to your 25th anniversary and renew your vows.

    • Lena says:

      ‘’Apparently’’ is the key word here. We really have no idea if he was faithful or clean do we? Just as some of us in real life have been fooled by guys we thought were clean and/or faithful. Just as we have no idea how he really feels about anything either. Just what JLo’s or ‘Hollywood sources’ are putting out there. I haven’t read it in full myself but so far it sounds like it’s a one sided article.

      • Darla says:

        I don’t think he’s good at hiding when he’s off the wagon, just my opinion. I will give him the benefit of the doubt on this. You can’t prove a negative, so I’ll just go with what we can see.

      • Al says:

        Yup it’s pretty clear when he’s drinking and has significantly slimmed down in body amd face in the past 2 years.

    • Karisma says:

      I’m with you Darla.

  26. The Amazon says:

    Oh lord!!! Here we go again…

  27. Carolnr says:

    Sadly ,
    No one is talking about the fact that the trailer of Ben & Matt’s new movie, The Last Duel was just recently released. The coverage of the re-do of Bennifer has superseded it!!!!

    • Lena says:

      Yes, I noticed that and wondered if Ben just wanted to bury the news of the trailer with this magazine cover story. His hair and accent in it are terrible, and he has a bigger role than I thought he would so he can’t exactly hide from it.

  28. serena says:

    The fact that they always say how Jen’s kids are adjusting so well to Ben but never say the opposite is telling. Oh well, maybe Jen’s kids are more used to see men come and go, but I still feel sorry for all the children involved because I know how messy it is/will become.

  29. MangoAngelesque says:

    I’m not sure he will be the one to eff it up. At least, he won’t be the ONLY one to eff it up. He may be a bit of a bit self-saboteur, but she’s a stage 5 clinger with serious micro-management tendencies. So while she’s busy grooming him to her ideal version of “Peak Bennifer,” he’ll be getting chilled toes and wondering what he’s doing all over again.

    It won’t end pretty.