Jennifer Lopez shared a lot with ex-husband Ben Affleck during their marriage, including tattoos. But years earlier, the idea of getting matching tattoos might’ve been proposed by a prior boyfriend.
Jennifer Lopez’s ex originally suggested getting matching tattoos long ago
During the happier times of their relationship, Lopez and Affleck celebrated their first Valentine’s day as a married couple by showing off their tattoos. On social media, Lopez posted a picture of her new marking, which was a red eternity symbol signed with both her and Affleck’s names. An arrow pierced through the tattoo to complete the picture, which was located on her rib cage.
Affleck’s tattoo was similar, but not quite a copy. His tattoo was two arrows crossed over each other with the initials J and B written over each other. His was colored black, whereas Lopez’s tattoo was red.
Years before Lopez branded herself, however, a source claimed that her ex Casper Smart approached her with a similar idea. Smart worked as Lopez’s backup dancer, and famously dated the singer after her difficult divorce from Marc Anthony. Their relationship was and off for five years before parting ways for good in 2016.
“I just got out of a big, heavy, devastating thing, and he’s helped me heal,” Lopez once told People (via HuffPost). “He’s been there for me.”
Although at the time Lopez seemed a bit skeptical regarding the actual milage of their relationship. Smart was in his early 20s when he was with Lopez, who was already 42 at the time.
“I ask him, ‘Why don’t you go find a young girlfriend and get out of here? What do you want with me?’” she said. “And you think, ‘How long is this gon’ be?’ … The truth is we don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re loving this moment right now. We make each other happy.”
Still, the couple managed to last for a fairly long time. One source even reported that he was so in love with Lopez, that Smart suggested they get matching tattoos. But it wasn’t an idea Lopez seemed to take seriously.
“When he presented her with that idea, Jennifer could barely control her laughter,” the source once said according to Koimoi. “The poor guy knows he’s up against four previous engagements and three marriages, so it is impossible for him to do something special that he can afford.”
If the reports are true, however, it seemed that Lopez might’ve eventually considered Affleck a better fit for the concept.
What happened to Jennifer Lopez’s and Ben Affleck’s tattoos after their divorce
The tattoos might have two completely different meanings now after Lopez and Affleck broke up. But that’s assuming they even decide to keep them going forward. Cosmopolitan recently reported that Lopez still seems to be wearing hers so far. But it’s hard to tell with Affleck, whose clothing normally hides where his tattoo would be located. It doesn’t help that Affleck’s own tattoo is located in an area that would be difficult to find.
If Affleck does keep the tattoo, it wouldn’t be his first. The Argo star has a few tattoos hidden on his body, including one of a Phoenix he was spotted with years ago. Lopez was candid about her ex-partner’s choices in ink on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (via Hello!).
“It’s awful,” she said. “I mean, I would tell him that, like what are you doing? It has too many colours. His tattoos always have too many colours! They shouldn’t be so colourful; you know what I mean? They should be, like, cooler.”
