What went wrong with Bennifer 2.0? Was it always destined to end like this, after two years of marriage and months of gossip? Will these two ever get back together? Who the heck is going to buy their marital home for $68 million? These are the questions that have been plaguing me for the past few weeks. I don’t really have answers to most of them, but the tabloids are working overtime to provide some context for the first one. The anonymous sources are coming out of the woodwork to explain what exactly went wrong here, and they all seem to be Team J.Lo.
“Page Six” reported that Bennifer’s marital woes went all the way back to their honeymoon, on which the couple were hounded by photographers in Lake Como, Italy. “He was unhappy with paparazzi following them,” a source explained. “She is an international superstar, and he acted like it came as a surprise that they would be followed around.”
“They would barely speak to each other during what was supposed to be the happiest time of their life,” the source continued. “He sold her on him being a changed man, and that lasted a very short time.”
The New York Post also went back in time, returning to The Greatest Love Story Never Told, the companion documentary to Lopez’s This Is Me … Now film. In the doc, Lopez reflected on Affleck’s discomfort with some of her artistic choices. “I don’t think he’s very comfortable with me doing all of this,” she said. “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 … He wants to do that [for me], but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable being the muse.”
Elsewhere in the documentary, Affleck is captured realizing that Lopez is sharing his private love letters to her with a team of musicians. “I did really find the beauty and the poetry and the irony in the fact that it’s The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” he said to camera. “If you’re making a record about it, that seems kind of like telling it.”
On August 20, TMZ reported that Lopez had filed for divorce without a lawyer. (The New York Post later reported that Lopez cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.) As part of its reporting, TMZ noted that the couple had been working toward a settlement for months and that the discussions had grown acrimonious. According to the outlet, the couple have still not reached an agreement.
A source told People that Lopez was “done waiting” when she decided to file on the second anniversary of their Georgia wedding ceremony. “She tried really hard to make things work and is heartbroken,” the source said.
Another source told the tabloid that Lopez is ready to “move on” from the relationship. “She’s very disappointed and sad, but Ben hasn’t given her any signs that he wants to continue their marriage.” TMZ added to the “moving on” angle when they reported that Lopez had requested to drop Affleck’s last name (she was legally Jennifer Affleck) and have her maiden name restored.
In the rare Lopez-critical comment, a source told the Daily Mail that the singer’s friends want her to do some self-reflection. “After four failed marriages, her friends feel that she should take a look inside and focus on herself instead of what others want her to be and finally figure out who she is and what she wants from her future,” they said.
The same source explained that Affleck apparently let Lopez file on their anniversary because he knew it would make her feel better. “Jennifer said she was tired of being humiliated by Ben and she waited until the two-year anniversary because she wanted to sting,” they told the British tabloid. “But it did not sting him. He’s been done for a long time and deep down she knows this. He let her have this so that she wouldn’t look like the villain.”
Meanwhile, sources close to Lopez have been extremely busy chatting up reporters from “Page Six” and People. First, a source told “Page Six” that Affleck has “a darkness to him that no other person can fix.”
Lopez “truly believed this was the greatest love story she’d ever known and she was finally getting her chance at the fairy tale,” the source explained. “She just really didn’t stop to consider who the actual man was [in] the fairy tale.” They continued, saying that Lopez “would have done anything to make this work” and that she “truly believed love would conquer all.”
Later that same day, the tabloid reported that Affleck had been “hanging out” with Kick Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The two were reportedly spotted at the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel and “other hot spots.” A representative for Affleck denied this rumor, telling People, “There is no truth to any of it. I don’t know if they even know each other.”
Meanwhile, People had an exclusive source telling them that despite the “great deal of love” in the relationship, Affleck’s “erratic mood swings” contributed to their downfall. “They were trying to work through it, but when the mood swings and the big highs and big lows informed a toxicity that was pervasive, no one can help you — you have to help yourself,” the source said. “The world was rooting for them, but who he said he was and who he turned out to be were two different people.”
As if that weren’t enough, a source also told People that while Lopez is “still close to [Jennifer] Garner and all five kids,” Affleck has not been in touch with Lopez’s children “in a long time.”
Clearly, the narrative that’s been decided upon by J.Lo’s camp is that she thought she was marrying one guy and she wound up being married to a different, more sinister guy. Affleck’s camp remains silent despite the full-court press they’re currently facing.
Over Labor Day weekend, Lopez exercised her right as a newly single woman and shared a pointed Instagram photo dump.
Try and tell me you haven’t watched your friend do this after she went through a massive breakup. It’s a perfect mix of photos where she looks hot, photos of her family (to show that she has fulfillment and love outside of men), several cute-animal photos, a booty pic, and a couple Pinterest-y inspirational quotes. I like the one that has a photo of a woman wearing a T-shirt that reads, “She’s in bloom and unbothered … out of reach and at peace.” And, of course, she topped it off with a cheeky, nonchalant caption. We are witnessing a master at work.
This posts has been updated.
