Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s ‘fairytale’ marriage was doomed from the start, say insiders because there was ‘no way she could control her embattled husband and he couldn’t change her’.
The singer, 55, filed for divorce on Tuesday and listed the date of separation as April 26, after months of speculation she had parted ways from the actor, 52.
One huge mistake was Jennifer’s insistence on going public on private aspects of their relationship which fans saw play out on her documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told.
The Hollywood star – who has battled alcoholism and a gambling addiction for decades – was ‘taken aback’ she had shared them as he had clung onto his correspondence with the singer during his 13-year marriage to Jennifer Garner.
He later had the letters and emails bound into a book to gift J-Lo when they reunited in 2021.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s ‘fairytale’ marriage was doomed from the start, say insiders as there was ‘no way she could control her embattled husband while he couldn’t change her’
The singer, 55, filed for divorce and listed the date of separation as April 26, after months of speculation she had parted ways from the actor, 52 (pictured looking tense last year)
Ben spoke about his desire to not talk about his relationship when he first started dating Jennifer back in 2021.
He told the Wall Street Journal: ‘One of the harder lessons that I have learned is that it’s not wise to share everything with the world.
‘There are some things which are private and intimate and have meaning in terms of their intimacy by dint of the fact that they’re not shared with the rest of the world.
‘I’m more comfortable just learning to find a boundary between things that I want to share and things that I don’t. I don’t know if it’s good or bad. I don’t. I know that I feel more comfortable having those healthy boundaries in my life around which, in a friendly and straightforward way, I tell you, I just don’t want to be talking about my personal relationship in the newspaper.’
Ben’s views were worlds apart from Jennifer, who decided to broadcast their love story in her Amazon Prime documentary.
In the film, Ben was ‘taken aback’ when he found her musicians rifling through his private love letters which J-Lo had given them to look at as inspiration for her next album.
He told the camera: ‘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.”
During their two-year marriage, J-Lo filmed The Greatest Love Story Never Told and it was reported at the time to be a point of contention over the singer sharing Ben’s love letters
In the film, Ben was ‘taken aback’ when he found her musicians rifling through his private love letters which J-Lo had given them to look at as inspiration for her next album
Of how he liked the letters kept private, Ben added: ‘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.’
Elsewhere in the documentary, Ben said: ‘Things that are private I always felt are sacred and special because, in part, they’re private.’
During the documentary, J-Lo stated: ‘This book is a book Ben gave me on our first Christmas back together. It is every letter and every mail that we wrote each other from 20 years ago and today.’
She highlighted one note that read: ‘The Greatest Love Story Never Told by Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck 2001-2010… and counting…’
The couple got engaged at the end of 2002 but broke it off a year later before calling quits on their relationship for good in 2004.
In the intervening years, J-Lo married and divorced Marc Anthony, with whom she has 16-year-old twins Max and Emme.
In the film, Ben was ‘taken aback’ when he found her musicians rifling through his private love letters he had sent J-Lo when they first started dating in the early noughties (pictured 2002)
Ben and Jennifer Garner started dating in August 2004, before tying the knot the following year. They announced their separation in 2015 (pictured in 2014)
Ben and Jennifer Garner started dating in August 2004, before tying the knot the following year. They announced their separation in 2015, with their divorce finalised in 2018.
The pair now co-parent their three children: Violet, 18, Fin, 15, and Samuel, 12.
After the film was released, insiders quashed any notion Jennifer Garner was shocked Ben had kept his love letters to J-Lo during their marriage, insisting she was happy for them – and is also at peace in her relationship with John Miller.
‘Ben would love for the outside world not to know about his love letters, but he is a romantic, and as much as he loved Jennifer, he never got over JLo,’ a source told DailyMail.com.
‘Ben keeps his memories, whether it is from movies he worked on or family and relationship moments, he always has what the kids call “receipts”.’
They continued: ‘No one is surprised by this at all. Jennifer is OK with it, JLo obviously loves it and everyone notices that all this was meant to be.
‘Jennifer and Ben have their wonderful children and are both enjoying the relationships they have always wanted to be in.’
