Ben Affleck

Here's Everything Ben Affleck Has Said About Jennifer Lopez This Year

Is Bennifer is back together? Multiple news outlets report the one-time Hollywood power couple went on a weeklong vacation together

In this March 23, 2003, file photo, actors Ben Affleck and fiancée Jennifer Lopez attend the 75th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Are Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez back together?

Affleck, 48, and Lopez, 51, were such a hot and heavy couple from 2002 until 2004, they earned their own tabloid nickname: Bennifer. And now, 17 years after the pair called off their wedding engagement, multiple news outlets are reporting that Bennifer is back in action.

The two Hollywood stars both participated in "VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World," which was filmed May 2 in Los Angeles. Then, according to E! News and People, they jetted off together to the Yellowstone Club in Montana, where they vacationed for about a week.

The former Hollywood power couple got engaged in 2002 and starred together in two notorious box office bombs: "Gigli"and "Jersey Girl." They postponed their 2003 wedding just days before they were to say "I do," and then officially broke up in January 2004.

The Bennifer rumors come nearly a month after J.Lo and former New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez confirmed their split after four years together.

Lopez shares 13-year-old twins Max and Emme with ex-husband Marc Anthony, while Affleck shares three kids — daughters Violet, 15, and Seraphina, 12, and son Samuel, 9 — with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. (Affleck posted a heartfelt Instagram tribute to Garner on Mother's Day.)

While we have no confirmation about what's really going on with the friendly exes, it's clear that J.Lo has been on Affleck's mind this past year.

'Me dating Jennifer Lopez happened to be that tabloid story'

In January, the "Justice League" star recalled the intense tabloid scrutiny he and Lopez faced during their time together.

"People were so f---ing mean about her — sexist, racist. Ugly, vicious s--- was written about her in ways that if you wrote it now, you would literally be fired for saying those things you said," Affleck said on the Jan. 14 episode of The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast.

“Now it’s like she’s lionized and respected for the work she did, where she came from, what she accomplished — as well she f---ing should be!” he continued.

Affleck added, “I would say you have a better chance — from the Bronx — of ending up as like Sotomayor on the Supreme Court than you do of having Jennifer Lopez’s career."

During the chat, the Oscar winner also revealed that he and Lopez have remained friends.

"You know, there's always a story of the month, and me dating Jennifer Lopez happened to be that tabloid story at the time when that business grew exponentially," Affleck shared.

'I was completely humbled and blown away'

Affleck gushed about his ex again while speaking to InStyle for a May 2021 cover story about the "Jenny from the Block" singer.

Recalling their moviemaking days, Affleck shared, "I thought I had a good work ethic, but I was completely humbled and blown away by what she was committed to doing day in and day out, the seriousness in which she took her work, the quiet and dedicated way she went about accomplishing her goals, and then how she would go back and redouble her efforts."

He added, "She remains, to this day, the hardest-working person I’ve come across in this business. She has great talent, but she has also worked very hard for her success, and I’m so happy for her that she seems, at long last, to be getting the credit she deserves."

'Where are you keeping the fountain of youth?'

Affleck didn't only commend Lopez's work ethic. He also wondered how she still looks so gorgeous, nearly 20 years later.

"Where are you keeping the fountain of youth? Why do you look the same as you did in 2003 and it kind of looks like I’m in my 40s ... at best?" he joked.

'She's the real thing'

Affleck also praised Lopez to the New York Times last year, insisting that her critically acclaimed performance in "Hustlers" was worthy of an Oscar.

"She should have been nominated," Affleck said. "She's the real thing."

He added, "I keep in touch periodically with her and have a lot of respect for her. How awesome is it that she had her biggest hit movie at 50? That's f---ing baller."

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

Copyright Today Digital Originals
Contact Us