Ben Affleck Jennifer Lopez
WESTWOOD, CA – JULY 27: Actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez attend the premiere of Revolution Studios’ and Columbia Pictures’ film “Gigli” at the Mann National Theatre July 27, 2003 in Westwood, California. Lopez and Affleck postponed their wedding, which was scheduled for this weekend, and has now reportedly spit up, possibly temporarily. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez began dating in 2002 before getting engaged and splitting in 2004. The Gone Girl actor has discussed the details surrounding their breakup during a conversation on The Howard Stern Show this week. Affleck admitted the intense media attention was just one factor.

“I would say [media attention] was about 50 percent [of what destroyed our relationship]. The idea that people hate you and they hate you together and that being together is poison and ugly and toxic and the thing none of us want to be part of,” Affleck told the outlet. “And, ‘Who the fu*k would want to have them to dinner?’ And, ‘What the fu*k are they doing together?'”

“I got fu*king hurt and angry, and felt like a fool.”

Ben Affleck Jennifer Lopez
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 10: Ben Affleck (L) and Jennifer Lopez are seen in Midtown on October 10, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Gotham/GC Images)

Affleck and Lopez rekindled their romance earlier this year to mass hysteria. The Oscar-winning actor says despite his new relationship, his main concern is his children, Violet, 16, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9, whom he shares with ex-wife, Jennifer Garner.

“My responsibility to my children is the highest responsibility I have,” he said. “So I won’t do anything that’s painful or destructive to them if I can help it.”

He continued, “That being said, I know that my life affects them. I dropped my son off at school two days ago, and he’s the only one who will talk about it. He’s nine years old, and there’s a bunch of the older boys out there doing some toy drive or something, and I heard them go, ‘Oh, Ben Affleck, Ben Affleck.’ And my kid looks at me and goes, ‘Hashtag welcome to my life.'”

Jennifer Lopez Ben Affleck
Credit: Alessandra Benedetti – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

He recently spoke with the WSJ Magazine and discussed his “second chance” with the pop star. “I am very lucky in my life in that I have benefited from second chances, and I am aware that other people don’t even get first chances,” he said. “I’ve had second chances in my career. I’ve had second chances as a human being. Life is difficult, and we are always failing and hopefully learning from those failures.”