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- Jennifer Lopez reflects on life-changing divorce from Ben Affleck and her path forward (foxnews.com)
Jennifer Lopez Reflects on Divorce from Ben Affleck: “The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me”
Jennifer Lopez is openly discussing her recent divorce from Ben Affleck, revealing a transformative period of personal growth following the end of their marriage. In a candid interview with “CBS Sunday Morning,” the 56-year-old actress and singer described the separation as “the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Lopez explained that the divorce prompted significant self-awareness and personal development. “It changed me,” she stated.
“It helped me grow in a way that I needed to grow, become more self-aware. I’m a different person now than I was last year.”
She emphasized finding joy in everyday life and embracing lessons learned, noting that once these insights are gained, “everything just becomes a little bit lighter and you can really really fly.” When asked if she feels she’s flying, Lopez affirmed, “I still feel like I want to fly higher.”
Her recent film, “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” also played a role in this period of transition. Lopez shared that Affleck served as an executive producer on the project when they were still married, helping to bring it to fruition after she expressed it was “the role I was born to play.”
However, the production period was marked by conflicting emotions. “It was the best and worst time in a way, because it was every moment on set and every moment I was doing this role, I was so happy, and then it was like, back home, it was not great,” she recounted.
“And it was just like, ‘How do I work inside of this?'” The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the same month their divorce was finalized.
“Kiss of the Spider Woman,” based on the 1993 Broadway musical and adapted from a 1976 novel, tells the story of Valentin, a political prisoner who forms an unexpected bond with his cellmate by recounting a Hollywood musical starring his favorite actress, portrayed by Lopez.
The couple’s romantic journey has been a public spectacle for over two decades. They first met in 2002 while working on the film “Gigli,” leading to an engagement before their split in 2004.
Lopez previously described that initial breakup as “the biggest heartbreak of my life,” causing an “18 years where I just couldn’t get it right.” Both went on to marry others and start families before rekindling their romance in 2021.
They became engaged in April 2022, married in July of that year, and Lopez ultimately filed for divorce in August 2024 after two years of marriage.
Ben Affleck has also addressed the divorce, sharing his perspective with GQ for their April 2025 issue. He noted that while there’s a tendency to seek “root causes” for breakups, his split from Lopez was “much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting.”
Affleck added, “There’s no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue. The truth is, when you talk to somebody, ‘Hey, what happened?’
Well, there is no, ‘This is what happened.'”