Skip to main contentSkip to footer

Ben Affleck makes shocking admission about his failed relationships amid Jennifer Lopez divorce

JLo filed for divorce in August 2024


ben affleck jennifer lopez mother la premiere 2023© Getty Images
Jenni McKnight
US Lifestyle Editor
September 6, 2024
Share this:

Ben Affleck has remained tight-lipped about his split from Jennifer Lopez – but a resurfaced interview has shared a huge insight into why their marriage could have ended.

The 52-year-old spoke to Playboy Magazine in 1999 and admitted that he was often to blame for his relationships ending.

Ben admitted that despite becoming "unhappy" in a relationship, he would keep quiet and carry on before developing "a passive-aggressive rage". 

"It's not like I was a womanizer or physically abusive or psychologically abusive or whatever," a then-27-year-old Ben told the publication.

"It's just that these relationships never end well. I think what happens is, I end up wanting to be out of the relationship."

He explained: "During the course of a relationship, if you get dissatisfied and unhappy and don't say something, if you don't deal with it right then, it just festers and stays there.

Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Amazon MGM Studios "This Is Me...Now: A Love Story" at Dolby Theatre on February 13, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)© Getty Images
Ben and Jennifer are in the middle of divorce proceedings

"So instead of saying, 'Look, don't do that, please don't act this way,' I go along with it until I just don't want to be in the relationship at all. Then I create some incident or do something or just don't call. And then she's [expletive]."

Ben didn't put the blame on his ex-girlfriends though. He added: "I can't necessarily blame her at that point. 

Ben Affleck attends the Los Angeles premiere of Amazon Studio's "The Tender Bar" at TCL Chinese Theatre on December 12, 2021 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)© Getty Images
Ben admitted he was to blame for his past failed relationships

"I've developed such a passive-aggressive rage that I have no sympathy and tell her, 'Well of course I didn't call you. If you weren't such a nagging, shrewish harpy I'd call you.'

 "If I were the next guy to go out with them, I'm sure I would be nodding in agreement about what an [expletive] their ex-boyfriend was."

Three years after the interview, Ben began his first relationship with Jennifer.

   
Ben Affleck and fiancee Jennifer Lopez, wearing Harry Winston jewelry, attends the 75th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theater on March 23, 2003 in Hollywood, California.  (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)© Getty Images
Ben and Jennifer first dated in the early 2000s

Their whirlwind romance began in 2002, and they quickly became one of the most talked-about couples in Hollywood.

Following a brief engagement, they broke up in 2004, only to reconnect in 2021, nearly two decades after their initial split.

jennifer lopez ben affleck wedding© Instagram
Jennifer and Ben married in Las Vegas in July 2022

After a short three-month engagement, the couple surprised fans by announcing they had tied the knot in a low-key Las Vegas wedding at the Little White Chapel on July 16, 2022.

They then hosted a more lavish, three-day wedding party at Ben's estate in Georgia on August 20, 2022.

ben affleck and jennifer lopez wedding© Instagram
They married again in Georgia in August 2022

Speaking of her wedding day, which took place 18 years after they called off their first engagement, the Marry Me actress wrote in her On the JLo newsletter: "Some old wounds were healed that day and the weight of the past finally lifted off our shoulders. Full-circle — and not at all the way we planned it. Better."

However, after months of speculation that their marriage was in trouble, the news was confirmed when Jennifer filed divorce papers in August after two years of marriage.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck attend the Ralph Lauren SS23 Runway Show at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens on October 13, 2022 in San Marino, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)© Getty Images
The couple have remained quiet about their split

While she listed their date of separation as April 26, she waited until the second anniversary of their Georgia wedding to file the papers.

Jennifer reportedly filed the divorce papers herself in LA County Superior Court without an attorney present.

Ben Affleck, wearing Gucci, and Jennifer Lopez, wearing Gucci, attend the 2023 LACMA Art+Film Gala, Presented By Gucci at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on November 04, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for LACMA)© Getty
'Bennifer' separated on April 26, 2024

The documents state that Jennifer requested that neither she, nor Ben, be awarded spousal support.

According to TMZ, the former couple do not have a prenuptial agreement, meaning their individual earnings from the past two years could be considered community property during the divorce proceedings.

Sign up to HELLO Daily! for the best royal, celebrity and lifestyle coverage

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More Weddings

See more