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Louise Thomas
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Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck on August 20 just a few months after their official separation date in April. And while it’s not been confirmed what their specific marriage woes were, fans are convinced they’ve found the moments the Good Will Hunting actor knew he didn’t want to be married to the Wedding Planner actress anymore.
For weeks, speculation surrounding Affleck and Lopez swirled online as the two spent time living independently, skipping over their second wedding anniversary in July. With the singer in the Hamptons and Affleck in Los Angeles, fans wondered if the pair would reconcile or call it quits – the latter being true.
Most internet users didn’t think the couple would last, arguing signs from their past would lead to the end of their road together, specifically three interactions they shared.
“Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were getting a divorce the day this video dropped lmao,” one X, formerly known as Twitter, user proclaimed next to a video of Affleck leading Lopez to the passenger seat of their car.
In the viral footage taken by The Hollywood Fix, the former couple walks silently to their car with Affleck in front of Lopez. The Gone Girl star opens the door for the “On the Floor” vocalist, waiting until she’s all the way in before slamming the door shut.
Affleck could be heard saying, “I think you got it,” to the paparazzi filming them before ducking into the vehicle on the driver’s side.
“The fact that he said, ‘I think you got it,’ to the pap after slamming that door meant he really had it,” one viewer predicted. “He wasn’t even putting on a front with his frustration knowing this was being filmed, so... yeah. Lol”
Another agreed: “Oh I think we def all knew then.”
Others thought one moment between them at the 2023 Grammys alluded to Affleck’s unsettledness.
“This is the day I knew Ben wasn’t happy with Jennifer Lopez,” an X user said alongside a video of the two A-listers at the famed awards ceremony. In the footage, Affleck appeared to whisper in Lopez’s ear for a few seconds before Lopez spun around. She seemed to respond, encouraging Affleck to change his behavior. His demeanor instantly became solemn.
A fellow viewer argued: “Yes, he was tired of being her trained seal.”
“She looks like she is scolding him like a child,” a second noted, while another said: “He didn’t want to be there.”
Watching Lopez’s documentary about her and Affleck, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, viewers clocked another contentious moment between the pair. During the film, Lopez is shown in the studio with her team, sharing an intimate aspect of her relationship with Affleck. She pulled out a binder full of love letters, emails, and messages between her and Affleck that he’d pieced together for Lopez as a present for their first Christmas back together in 2021.
While Lopez seemed to think showing her team the binder was in appreciation of Affleck’s romantic gesture, he seemed to think it was a violation of privacy.
Speaking to the camera producers, Affleck admitted: “My book that I had given her was down there. She’s like, ‘I’ve been reading it to people. This is kind of the inspiration and I’ve been showing them the book.’
“I was like you’ve been showing all the musicians all those letters... and they were like, ‘Yeah we call you Pen Affleck.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my god,’” he continued. “I did really find the beauty and the poetry and the irony in the fact that it’s the greatest love story never told. If you’re making a record about it, that seems kind of like telling it.”
Lopez filed for divorce in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on August 20, citing April 26 as the official day of her separation from Affleck. The former duo tied the knot in July 2022, 19 years after calling off their engagement.
