Inside Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s ‘Humiliating’ Divorce Drama: It’s Been ‘Difficult’
It was an incredibly awkward moment. When a reporter at a press conference for Jennifer Lopez’s new movie, Atlas, asked her in Spanish if the “rumors” about her split from Ben Affleck were “real,” she responded first by laughing. Then, as her costar Simu Liu tried to shut down the line of questioning, Jennifer leaned forward, looked the reporter in the eye and calmly but firmly said, “You know better than that.”
But the world already knew the answer to the question. As In Touch first reported, Jennifer and Ben’s marriage is barreling toward a divorce less than two years after they tied the knot in Las Vegas.
“They reunited 20 years after they first broke up, only to see everything fall apart again,” says a source close to the former couple. “It’s humiliating for Jennifer.” And while the pair have been living apart for months and divorce lawyers wait in the wings, “Jennifer is in denial. But it’s over, and this will go down as the divorce of the century.”
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Ben had enough. “He does love her and always will, but they’re so different,” says the source. Not only did Jennifer’s latest career venture involve an alcohol line despite the fact that Ben, 51, famously struggled with sobriety, the pair were constantly clashing over how much of their personal lives to share. The Oscar winner confessed as much in the documentary Jennifer, 54, made about their whirlwind rekindled romance, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, revealing that they were “trying to learn to compromise.”
But they never could. “She can’t control him, and he can’t change her,” says the source, adding that he moved out of their new $61 million mansion into a $100,000-a-month rental near his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, not long after the documentary was released.
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“All this time, Ben’s friends and family have been asking him what was he thinking, and he doesn’t have a good answer. It’s like he was under a spell. He made a huge mistake and feels like such a fool.”
Jennifer remains a hopeless romantic. “She’s desperate to save the relationship, not just because she still loves him, but she also wants to save face, from having a fourth failed marriage,” says the source. “Their final days and nights together were excruciatingly difficult. She begged Ben for a second chance, but he said no.”
The two did come together again to watch his child, Fin, 15, perform in a school play on May 16. Jennifer brought her child, Emme Mu?iz, 16, “who is super attached to Fin,” says the source. “But Ben avoided showing J. Lo any real affection. He didn’t hold her hand or get out to open the car door for her. He just drove her home, then went back to his rental. He can’t — or won’t — fake that everything is fine.” His one concession? He wore his wedding ring for the outing. “But that won’t last,” says the source, “and J. Lo is devastated.”
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And spiraling. “J. Lo has had screaming fits, and she’s been making panicked, middle-of-the-night phone calls to crisis managers to figure out how she’s going to publicly handle this situation,” says the source. “Her heart is broken, and she’s barely eating.” (She recently admitted, “I’m the thinnest I’ve ever been.”)
Jennifer — who’s worth $400 million — and Ben — who’s worth $150 million — reportedly have a prenup, and they will “try to keep things as amicable as possible because of the kids,” says the source. “But still, things can get nasty at any moment, especially when lawyers get involved.” (Jennifer and Ben both have previously used high-profile Hollywood lawyer Laura Wasser. Ben once praised her for having “a talent for fostering empathy rather than enmity” to mediate divorces.)
While Jennifer may be holding on, Ben has made it clear he’s done, says the source. “He’s even turning to Jen [Garner] for support,” says the source. “That must make J. Lo furious. She and Ben are both incredibly passionate people, so it’s going to be a painful divorce — no matter what.”
