Ben Affleck Reveals What Led To Jennifer Lopez Divorce

Ben Affleck has finally broken his silence on his split from Jennifer Lopez, offering a different glimpse into their high-profile marriage.

In a GQ cover story for April, the 52-year-old actor reflected on his 2024 divorce from the 55-year-old pop star and actress in a two-part interview. The Good Will Hunting actor also discussed his reasoning for appearing in her 2024 documentary, Greatest Love Story Never Told, and gave his take on how the relationship was put on display.

Affleck, however, was sure to clarify that the documentary wasn’t the sole reason for their divorce.

“I think it’s important to say that wasn’t the cause of some major fracture,” he explained. “It’s not like you can watch that documentary and go, ‘Oh, now I understand the issues that these two had.’ Part of it was, ‘Okay, if I’m going to participate in this, I want to try to do it in an honest way and in a way that’s interesting,’ because I thought it was an interesting examination.”

Affleck also shut down any notions of scandal, adding, “There’s no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue. The truth is, when you talk to somebody, [and they ask] ‘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. It’s really, it sounds more like a couple’s therapy session, which — you would tune out of someone else’s couple’s therapy after a while.”

The Hollywood star admitted that even him dissecting his own breakup feels ridiculous. “For one thing, you start going, ‘Okay, clearly this person has got these issues. Clearly they have these issues.’ And the reason I don’t want to share that is just sort of embarrassing,” he admitted. “It feels vulnerable.”

Speaking of sharing their love story with the world, the Accountant 2 star also acknowledged that Lopez has always been more comfortable in the spotlight than he is. “There are a lot of people who I think have handled celebrity more adeptly and more adroitly than I have, Jennifer among them,” he said. “My temperament is to be a little bit more reserved and private than hers. As happens in relationships, you don’t always have the same attitude towards these things.”

“And I think the thing that I said in that documentary or the piece that they used was where I said, ‘You don’t marry a ship captain,’” he recalled. “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.”

As the latter comment to GQ sat with Affleck more, he further clarified his remark in the second part of their interview, emphasizing that there is no bad blood between him and the “Let’s Get Loud” singer. “I hope I was clear when you asked me about Jen and the documentary and I talked about that and my sort of personal life a little bit — which I don’t mind doing as long as my actual feelings and intentions and beliefs are communicated — I hope I was clear that really this is somebody I have a lot of respect for,” he shared.

“I really hope that whatever you use doesn’t suggest that I have any negativity or judgment or anything regarding that. I have nothing but respect.”

Lopez also addressed their divorce in an Interview Magazine feature in October, making it clear that while the breakup was painful, she has no regrets. “I think to myself, ‘F**k, that is exactly what I needed. Thank you, God. I’m sorry it took me so long,” she said. “I’m sorry that you had to do this to me so many times.’”

The Selena actress was married three times before Affleck. Speaking of stepping into the single life once more, she said, “I’m not looking for anybody, because everything that I’ve done over the past 25, 30 years — being in these different challenging situations — what can I f**king do when it’s just me flying on my own.”