Why Ben Affleck Is Just Now Speaking Out About His Split From Jennifer Lopez

Notoriously private actor Ben Affleck is finally breaking his silence on his split from Jennifer Lopez.

The A-list couple became engaged in 2002 but split the following year. In 2021, they rekindled their romance and tied the knot in 2022 in two separate ceremonies. However, their honeymoon period didn't last long. Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024. It was finalized in January 2025.

The "Accountant 2" actor recently shared some details about the end of his relationship in a cover interview for the April issue of GQ. He had nothing but nice things to say about his ex-wife, noting that she has "handled celebrity more adeptly and more adroitly than I have."

He added, "My temperament is to be a little bit more reserved and private than hers."

Affleck also seemed to shut down the idea that their 2024 documentary about their marriage, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, was the reason for the split, as fans had suspected.

"As happens in relationships, you don’t always have the same attitude towards these things," he continued, discussing how much of their private life they wanted to put in the spotlight. "And so I thought, Oh, this is interesting because how do you reconcile that? Because ... I love and support this person. I believe in them. They’re great. I want people to see that."

When recalling the making of the documentary, Affleck noted that Lopez was much more comfortable in the spotlight than he was, but it was something he signed up for. He recalled saying something along the lines of, "'You don’t marry a ship captain and then say, "Well, I don’t like going out in the water."' You’ve got to own what you knew going into any relationship.'"

"And I think it’s important to say that wasn’t the cause of some major fracture. It’s not like you can watch that documentary and go, 'Oh, now I understand the issues that these two had,'" he added.

Although the "Argo" actor has been notoriously private, he confessed that he doesn't mind talking about his personal life "a little" so long as his "actual feelings and intentions and beliefs are communicated." In this instance, he says that he hopes it is clear that Lopez is someone that he has "a lot of respect for."

Affleck said that he understands "wanting to divine or explore the kind of differences in perspective that we have in terms of how a person feels comfortable approaching the line between public and private life," but insisted that he has "nothing but respect" for his ex.

"There’s a tendency to look at breakups and want to identify root causes or something. But honestly ... the truth is much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting," he continued.

Affleck also went on to state that there was no major scandal that led to a speedy end to their marriage. "There’s no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue," he explained. "The truth is, when you talk to somebody, 'Hey, what happened?' Well, there is no, 'This is what happened.'"

"It’s just a story about people trying to figure out their lives and relationships in ways that we all sort of normally do," he added.

It's clear from his comments that he is trying to put an end to the rumors and speculation regarding his relationship so they can both move on from the relationship. Although Affleck might not have addressed the comments in the past, it appears that he has learned to navigate the press due to his relationship with Lopez.

In March 2023, Affleck told The Hollywood Reporter that Lopez "gave me a talk" before the interview to help him prepare.

"She thinks that, because of experiences that I've had, I've become very guarded. And she's right," he explained. "I view these things as land mines, where if you say one wrong thing, your career might be over."

He addressed a December 2021 appearance on "The Howard Stern Show," which he described as a "really painful experience where I did an interview where I was really vulnerable." He claimed that various outlets distorted his words to say "the opposite of what I meant."

So, before his interview with THR, he recalled:

"So she tells me today, 'Relax, be yourself. Have fun. You're actually a fun guy who is real and genuine, and you just seem so serious.' Do I seem serious? But as in many things, she's really right."

He added, "And she loves me. She's looking out for me. She's trying to help me. So it's like, maybe I ought to f-cking listen to her."

Now that his relationship is over, it seems that Affleck has accepted that he is going to make headlines regardless of whether he is silent or not. A good example of this is when the FBI was spotted outside his house in Brentwood, California, on January 12.

During his interview with GQ, Affleck admitted that he had no idea why the police were there and had to make a few calls to find out himself. When asked if it was odd that strangers know that FedEx shows up at his door, Affleck agreed: "I’m aware that it’s absurd and it’s ridiculous."

"There’s nothing newsworthy at all about the day-to-day events of my life or the conversation I have with one person or another person that’s photographed," he added.

Although he knows it's ridiculous, even he has to admit that people are going to talk about it, whether he likes it or not, and the only way to address the story is to control the narrative. Both Affleck and Lopez have major projects coming up. If he remained silent on the end of their marriage, questions about their relationship would no doubt come up on every red carpet they walked.

This way, by finally speaking out, he can shut the door on rumors of infidelity or strife in their marriage. Instead, he gets to pick up his brush and paint the picture of two adults who tried to be in a relationship... and it just didn't work out.

Whether or not the fans believe it is another story, and one he has no interest in reading.