It's over.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are officially ending their marriage two years after tying the knot, with the singer filing for divorce on Aug. 20. Incidentally, this is also the anniversary of their wedding ceremony in Georgia back in 2022—though they first said their vows in Las Vegas in July of that year.
TMZ was first to break the sadly long-awaited news, reporting that Lopez filed herself without a lawyer in L.A. County Superior Court. The publication also revealed that J.Lo listed their separation date as April 26, 2024.
Speaking of Lopez, a source told People, "She tried really hard to make things work, and is heartbroken. The kids are a top priority, as they always have been."
It was just days after the listed date of separation that divorce rumors began hitting Bennifer, starting with Lopez' solo appearance at the Met Gala on May 6, when fans expected Affleck to be there since his wife was a co-host of the event.
The whispers turned into full-blown reports in mid-May, when a slew of anonymous sources with knowledge of the situation began talking to the press. That's when we found out that Affleck had "already moved out" of their marital home, which later turned out to be true—the actor has indeed been living in a rental home in Los Angeles for several months.
In June, a source claimed the two were "having issues" but not currently separating, but reports escalated from there, claiming they hadn't seen each other for weeks, and other allegations that really didn't bode well for the longevity of their marriage.
More concretely, the couple put the aforementioned marital home on the market in early June, with the public listing emerging days later.
Though we were told at one stage during this saga that there may be a "sliver of hope" for a reconciliation between the two, it was becoming more and more clear up to the divorce filing that this hope was sadly futile.
An early August report may have been more on the mark, as one source told Entertainment Tonight that the spouses were "waiting to announce their official split, because they want to make sure everything is seamless when they do, especially with everyone involved."
It's also been clear throughout this whole ordeal that Lopez has every intention of remaining close with Affleck's three children (whom he shares with Jennifer Garner). Violet in particular has been a focus for both Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck as she prepares to start as a freshman at Yale. The 18-year-old even visited her stepmom while she was vacationing in the Hamptons earlier this summer.
Though we've unfortunately had a handful of months to prepare ourselves emotionally, Lopez and Affleck' separation is sure to crush fans, who were elated when the two first reconnected in the wake of Lopez' split from her ex Alex Rodriguez in 2021.
It was a fairytale romance come true: The two had first met on the set of Gigli in 2002, quickly fallen in love, gotten engaged, then called off the wedding due to the amount of pressure they felt on their relationship, eventually separating in 2004.
Affleck went on to marry Garner and welcome Violet, Fin, 15, and Samuel, 12, with the actress. Lopez married Marc Anthony, with whom she shares twin Max and Emme, 16.
After they first got back together three years ago, things moved fast between Lopez and Affleck as they savored every moment of their second chance at finding love with each other. They were engaged in April 2022, and as previously mentioned, married in July of that year.
Whatever the future brings, wishing these two the best of luck moving forward.
