Ben Affleck Says He Didn’t Want a ‘Relationship on Social Media’ with Jennifer Lopez When They Reconciled

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Ben Affleck had specific expectations for his relationship with Jennifer Lopez when they got back together 20 years after calling off their wedding. In the singer’s newly-released documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told, Ben, 51, explained that he wanted the couple’s romance to stay out of the spotlight when they reconciled in 2021. Instead, Jennifer, 54, used their relationship as inspiration for her new album, musical film, and documentary.

“Getting back together, I said, ‘Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media,’ ” Ben said in the doc, which was released Feb. 27 on Prime Video. “Then I sort of realized it’s not a fair thing to ask. It’s sort of like, you’re gonna marry a boat captain and you go, ‘Well, I don’t like the water.’ ”

“We’re just two people with different kinds of approaches trying to learn to compromise,” the Air star added. Since the couple got back together, Jennifer has occasionally shared cute photos of her and her husband on social media.

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In the doc, Jennifer acknowledged that Ben doesn’t like being in the spotlight, but he knows it’s important for his wife to share her story in her work.

“I don’t think [Ben] is very comfortable with me doing all of this,” the Grammy-nominated performer said. “But he loves me, he knows I’m an artist, and he’s gonna support me in every way he can because he knows you can’t stop me from making the music I made… he doesn’t want to stop me. But that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable being the muse.”

Jennifer has cast more attention on her and Ben’s relationship with the release of her new projects. She’s also been doing interviews discussing their romance and what led to their 2003 breakup. “Our relationship crumbled under the weight of the pressure,” she told Variety on Feb. 13. “We lost a sense of ourselves, and we needed to separate because we didn’t know how to survive it. I had to figure myself out, and he had to figure himself out.”

The relationship between “Bennifer” began in the early 2000s, but they went their separate ways and moved on with different partners, before reconnecting two decades later. They got engaged for a second time in April 2022, and later that summer, the couple hosted a lavish wedding in Georgia and made their commitment to each other official. Jennifer and Ben are now living a happily married life with their blended family that includes five children.