NEED TO KNOW
They say the third time is the charm, and I’m certainly hoping that is the case for Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.
On Oct. 6, the Argo director made a surprise appearance at his ex-wife’s latest movie premiere, Kiss of the Spider Woman and sent us all into a frenzy. Even casual spectators couldn’t help but comment on their obvious chemistry in the few brief seconds of interaction caught on camera.
In fact, the the exact moment Lopez realized Affleck was present were captured by the crews, and — well, I’m just going to say it: I wouldn’t be entirely mad if these two gave their relationship another whirl.
“You’re here!” exclaimed Lopez upon noticing Affleck walk through the background of her interview. She agreed to join his photo in a moment — just as she finished her train of thought about one of her kids is super excited for the movie — but by that point, people were spiraling.
“He hates the carpet!! But he went there for her!!! I don’t need to say anything else!!!❤️❤️❤️” one commenter wrote. “The chemistry is undeniable ❤️❤️❤️” wrote another.
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The Bennifer lore started back in the early aughts. The couple began dating in 2002 and got engaged the same year. Their relationship was filled with so much outside pressure that mere days before they were meant to say “I do,” they cancelled the lavish wedding they had planned in 2003.
They would go their separate ways, get married and have kids and continue their individual quests for success, before they rekindled their romance in 2021 and Bennifer 2.0 was born. One particular set of pictures from a Mediterranean yacht vacation made me so giddy, I was certain their second go-round was the perfect example of right person, wrong time and that they would go on and live happily ever after.
My prediction seemed to come true as the pair got engaged for a second time in April 2022 and he managed to top his first rock by adorning her with an 8.5-carat radiant-cut green diamond flanked by two half-moon accent diamonds, set on a platinum band. They were wed that July.
However, by the time her album This Is Me… Now was released in Feb. 2024, there seemed to be some trouble in paradise. In fact, the accompanying documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, highlighted what appeared to be the fundamental push/pull of their relationship over the past two decades: Her embrace of the spotlight vs. his need for solitude.
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“Getting back together, I said, ‘Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media.’ And then I realized it’s not a very fair thing to ask,” he said at one point in the film. “It’s like you’re going to marry a boat captain, and you go, ‘Well, I don’t like the water.’ You know? We’re just two people with different approaches trying to learn to compromise.”
She echoed the sentiment, saying, “I don’t think he’s very comfortable with me doing all of this. But he loves me, he knows I’m an artist and he’s going to support me in every way he can because he knows he can’t stop me from making the music I made and writing the words that I wrote. That’s going to happen and he doesn’t want to stop me.”
She continued, “He wants to do that [for me], but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable being the muse.”
While we don’t know exactly what caused the rift the second time around (I’ll stay tuned for the documentary reveal on that), the two went their separate ways last summer, with Lopez filing for divorce on Aug. 20, 2024 and finalizing just 20 weeks later on Jan. 6.
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Fast forward 10 months later, the two are still intertwined — professionally! — because Affleck and his BFF Matt Damon are producers on her film Kiss of the Spider Woman, and their working relationship has come up in many interviews.
“If it wasn’t for Ben, the movie wouldn’t have gotten made,” she told Craig Melvin on the Today show. “And I will always give him that credit.”
On Oct. 6, in between red carpet whispers, Affleck reflected the praise back onto her: “This is an incredible story. This is the kind of role I think that Jennifer has wanted to play her whole career and she is fabulous in the movie,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “I’m really excited for people to see Kiss of the Spider Woman because she’s great, [Tonatiuh] is great, Diego [Luna] is great. Bill [Condon] did great. I’m really proud that our company made the movie.”
Call me cheesy, but any guy who is willing to still make your dreams come true even when you’re not seeing eye to eye has a major soft spot for you, and I can’t help but root for these two to find their footing again.
After having been married and having done the whole blended family thing — they’re both still close to each other’s kids — if they were to give their relationship another go, this would be the perfect time to do so.
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They have already tried and failed, so there’s no pressure to appear to be the “perfect” couple anymore; they’re only a year out of their divorce — which went down without any major fall out, let’s note — so it’s not like a bunch of time has passed and they have to figure out how to pick up the pieces; they obviously work well together, as the film has already generated some Oscar buzz; and, perhaps most importantly, judging by the videos and pictures from the premiere last night, their chemistry is still palpable.
I can understand why some people might be hesitant to see these two get back together, but the hopeless romantic in me still feels like he’s her lobster. So why not go for a Bennifer 3.0? (Just nobody ask Jane Fonda to weigh in!)
