J. Lo Files to Divorce Ben Affleck After 2 Years of Marriage

It’s over. Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck after two years of marriage, submitting her paperwork with the court on Tuesday, August 20, Closer can confirm. The “Waiting for Tonight” singer listed their date of separation as April 26, 2024.

The filing marked an end to J.Lo and Ben’s fairytale reunion in 2021, followed by two weddings in the summer of 2022.

Public tensions began to show when Jennifer, 54, released a documentary about their love story, The Greatest Story Never Told, in February. It accompanied her album of love songs about Ben, This Is Me… Now, along with a $20 million self-financed multimedia project about the album.

The Prime Video documentary showed how the pair weren’t on the same page when it came to living life in the spotlight. Ben, 51, participated, but didn’t seem completely comfortable with it.

He confessed on camera, “Getting back together, I said, ‘Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media.’ Then I sort of realized it’s not a fair thing to ask. It’s sort of, like, you’re going to marry a boat captain and you go, ‘Well, I don’t want the water.’ We’re trying to learn to compromise.”

Jennifer added, “I don’t think [Ben] is very comfortable with me doing this, [but] he doesn’t want to stop me.”

At another point in the documentary, The Wedding Planner star shared love letters from Ben dating back to when they first began seeing each other in 2001. He later said in the doc, “Things that are private I always felt are sacred and special because, in part, they’re private.”

After being inseparable in PDA photos since their reunion and marriage, Ben and Jennifer went 47 days without being photographed together starting on March 30. In Touch exclusively obtained the first pictures of the two reuniting at his child Fin’s school play on May 16.

Ben skipped out on attending the Met Gala on May 6, where J. Lo was a co-chair. She was forced to walk the red carpet solo, with the Argo star’s absence surprising fashion reporters.

J. Lo Files to Divorce Ben Affleck After 2 Years of Marriage — Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images

One day after Jennifer was photographed house hunting in Beverly Hills on May 14, despite owning a $60 million home purchased with Ben in May 2023, In Touch reported exclusively that the pair were headed for a split.

“The writing is on the wall – it’s over,” the insider dished on May 15. “They’re headed for a divorce – and for once, [Ben’s] not to blame!”

“Ben already moved out and they’ll likely have to sell the dream house they spent two years searching for. They’ll never stop loving each other, but she can’t control him, and he can’t change her. There’s no way it could have lasted,” the source added.

The following day, the Gone Girl actor was photographed driving away from a $100,000 per month rental home he was staying at in Brentwood, California, not far from where his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, and their three children lived.

During Ben’s daughter Violet’s high school graduation activities, the Oscar winner attended one event solo, while J. Lo joined him and his mom, Ann Boldt, for a party on May 30, although the “Let’s Get Loud” singer left by herself after one hour.

The following day, Jennifer announced that she was cancelling her summer tour amid her marriage crisis.

“I am completely heartsick and devastated about letting you down. Please know that I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t feel that it was absolutely necessary,” she wrote on her OnTheJLo website on May 31. Concert promoter Live Nation said in a statement that the tour had been scrapped because “Jennifer is taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends.”

Ben and Jennifer’s love story began in 2001 when they fell for each other while making the film Gigli. They were supposed to marry in a lavish, Santa Barbara, California, wedding ceremony in September 2003, but called it off days before the nuptials. The pair broke up in January 2004.