After news that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were officially over made headlines this week, with the former filing for divorce, fans couldn’t help but notice the peculiar timing of the split.
Following months of rumoured relationship issues, which included Affleck moving out of their marital home and the couple spending their respective birthdays apart, the singer finally decided to get the paperwork sorted on August 20—what was supposed to be their second wedding anniversary.
According to a source, Lopez came to the painful conclusion that “it’s time to move on” for various reasons, reports People magazine.
“She’s very disappointed and sad, but Ben hasn’t given her any signs that he wants to continue their marriage,” they told the outlet. “He hasn’t shown any commitment and interest in making their marriage work. It’s gotten to the point that she just needs to look out for herself.”
An insider also confirmed to Page Six that the star filed for divorce from Affleck in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on their anniversary to “take a stand” against Affleck’s alleged inaction, and show the world that she is “a woman standing up in her own way.”
The date marks two years since the former couple married in front of family and friends during a ceremony in Georgia. Though they had previously been engaged when they initially dated in the early 2000s, Lopez and Affleck finally tied the knot in 2022 after they rekindled their romance in 2021.
During a February 2022 interview, the 52-year-old expressed that things were different this second time.
“We both were like, ‘Wow, we’re so happy, and we don’t want any of that to come into play again.’ We’re older now, we’re smarter, we have more experience, we’re at different places in our lives, we have kids now, and we have to be very conscious of those things,” she said. “We’re so protective because it is such a beautiful time for all of us.”
But in May 2024, InTouch reported that the newlyweds were heading for a split, with Affleck already moved out of their home amid high tensions with his wife. According to a source, the duo still faced the same relationship issues that caused them to break up almost two decades ago.
“[They] said they’d matured and learned from their mistakes, but some of the bigger issues that tore them apart the first time remained the same,” the source shared. “They’ll never stop loving each other, but she can’t control him, and he can’t change her. There’s no way it could have lasted.”
