Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are in agreement over what drove them apart the first time — the heat of the spotlight. On a December 2021 episode of “The Howard Stern Show,” Affleck attributed half of the reason for their 2004 breakup to intense public scrutiny, per Marie Claire Australia. “The idea that people hate you and they hate you together and that being together is poison and ugly and toxic and the thing none of us want to be part of,” Affleck reflected.
The media obsession with Bennifer reached its zenith around their first wedding date. Originally scheduled for a September 2003 ceremony, the couple called a last-minute postponement, blaming “the excessive media attention” in a joint statement, according to CBS News. Finding themselves potentially using decoy brides as subterfuge, Affleck and Lopez “realized that something was awry.” With one postponement came another, and “Bennifer: Part One” was over within the next few months.
Read Related Also: Pregnant Rihanna models vintage Chanel ahead of Met Gala 2023
Reminiscing on the breakup on “The Jess Cagle Interview” in 2016, via People, Lopez insisted the twosome “didn’t try to have a public relationship.” As she saw it, she and Affleck just happened to happen at the same time as “the birth of the tabloids,” which exerted more press than either of them expected. Luckily, for their second go, Lopez told Rolling Stone in 2022 that she and Affleck are wiser with age and that they’re a lot more protective of “the most important things in life.”
