Ben Affleck opens up about being in spouse J-Lo’s shadow

Ben Affleck has talked about his estranged wife Jennifer Lopez as the two continue to lead separate lives – he is in Los Angeles this week while the diva parties in Capri.

The 51-year-old luminary unfortunately did not address the state of their marriage. That might be because the interview was filmed months ago as Ben had a full beard; he shaved it off in March to film The Accountant 2.

The Massachusetts native did, however, shed light on what it was like being wed to someone so famous. 

In a new interview with Kevin Hart for an episode from season four of his show Hart To Heart, the Oscar-winning actor addressed the 54-year-old Atlas actress’ enormous celebrity.

The Air actor shared a story about how fans went ‘bananas’ when they spotted the Bronx-born beauty with him in Times Square in New York City

Turns out, it was his idea to walk through one of the busiest neighborhoods with a superstar on his arm. 

Ben Affleck has talked about his estranged wife Jennifer Lopez as the two continue to lead separate lives – he is in Los Angeles this week while the diva parties in Capri

In a new interview with Kevin Hart for his show Hart To Heart for season four, the Oscar-winning actor addressed the 54-year-old Atlas actress’ enormous celebrity

The 51-year-old luminary unfortunately did not address the state of their marriage. That might be because the interview was filmed months ago as Ben had a full beard; he shaved it off in March to film The Accountant 2. Seen in 2021

‘We went somewhere with [Jennifer]—I can’t remember because she’s so famous, and she creates this—people love her, and she really represents something important to people,’ Affleck began.

‘[To me,] people are like, “Hey, I like your movie,” and then they’re like “AAAHHHH! J-LO!” he yelled. ‘It’s amazing, you know what I mean?’

Then he got more specific. 

‘I think it was when we rolled through Times Square,’ he continued. 

‘We get out of the car, we were going to a play, and I was like, “F*** it, babe, we’re going to be late, we gotta walk a block and a half.” [Lopez] was like, “Alright,” she didn’t say s***.’

They were with all their children – he has Violet, Seraphina and Samuel with Jennifer Garner and Lopez has Max and Emme with Marc Anthony.

‘We get out with her, all the kids, through Times Square, and the s*** was like f****n’ bananas,’ Affleck noted.

‘I was like, “Oh my God.” There was a lady, she was smoking weed, in a full purple skintight suit—she’s a heavy lady—and she starts running backwards filming, going “-LO!!”

He added, ‘Like a herald, that then gets everyone else, and then all the tourists come in.’

Affleck said the chaos was a lot to take in.

‘We went somewhere with [Jennifer]—I can’t remember because she’s so famous, and she creates this—people love her, and she really represents something important to people,’ Affleck began

‘[To me,] people are like, “Hey, I like your movie,” and then they’re like “AAAHHHH! J-LO!” he yelled. ‘It’s amazing, you know what I mean?’

Then he got more specific. ‘We get out of the car, we were going to a play, and I was like, “F*** it, babe, we’re going to be late, we gotta walk a block and a half.” They were with all their children. ‘We get out with her, all the kids, through Times Square, and the s*** was like f****n’ bananas,’ Affleck noted

‘Then we’ve got our five kids, it’s me and Jen and what feels like hundreds of people, and they’re all screaming.’

When he began telling the story to Hart, he said his daughter has this thing where she is ‘always throwing out titles to her autobiography.’  

His daughter, he doesn’t name which one, then turned to her dad in Time Square after the frenzy began and said a titled for her autobiography could be: J-Lo Was My Stepmother.

He does bring up why his daughter used the past tense.

Ben then added: ‘And I was like, alright that’s a good title.’

Affleck also addresses his resting grumpy face and his explanation is hard to believe as they actor – who has been in front of cameras for three decades – declares he is ‘shy.’

The Massachusetts native did, however, shed light on what it was like being wed to someone so famous. Seen in January 2024

The couple seemed happier 20 years ago, right, than they did last year, left

Ben said: ‘I’m also a little bit shy. I don’t like a lot of attention. This is why people see me and they’re like, “Why is this dude always mad?” Because someone had their camera sticking in my face, and I’m like, “OK, here we go.”‘

‘You have resting b***h face,’ Hart joked.

‘B****h? Now,’ Affleck responded as he pretended to be mad.

‘I have resting hard face. People are projecting onto me something that I don’t feel about myself at all.’

 Lopez, 54, is done with her marriage to Affleck (seen in 2023), a source has told DailyMail.com, saying: ‘It’s over, she has had enough’ 

‘He chain smokes and cusses and seems irritated a lot of the time. Great director and actor, but not a lot of laughs with him always, you know?’ said the source. Seen in May 2023

Hart loses points for not asking Ben why he continues to be in showbusiness if he doesn’t like attention.

Ben, who also directs, has no plans to stop acting: his next film is The Accountant 2. 

‘My wife will tell you, I like to talk,’ Ben also said earlier in the interview; it was worth noting that he did not say ex-wife, but the show could have been taped months ago. 

This comes after a source told DailyMail.com that Lopez is over trying to fix her marriage to Affleck.

An industry insider has now claimed that the pop star has reached her wit’s end and no longer feels that she can do any ‘more’ to save the relationship. 

‘Jenny has had enough and she really tried but she can do no more, it’s not getting any better, it’s worse,’ a music industry source told DailyMail.com.

The insider add that the main reason J.Lo left her husband was because he was always ‘grumpy and negative’ like Oscar The Grouch from Sesame Street. 

The main reason she left her husband was because he was always ‘grumpy and negative’ like Oscar The Grouch from Sesame Street, the source added. Ben, 51, seen on June 11 in LA with his mother 

One of those new plans is resuming her This Is Me… Live tour for the summer of 2025 when she turns 56. She canceled the 2024 tour that was scheduled to kick off in July in order to ‘recollect herself.’ 

‘She is excited about going on tour next year when her personal life is on calmer ground and she can connect with her fans. She will take her tribe with her and make the most of it,’ said the source. 

Lopez is also said to be ‘shocked’ by the bad press she has been getting, which she believes is not fair.

‘If people could see what she has really gone through they would be easier on her,’ said the source. 

‘Ben is a great guy but he can be grumpy and a downer. I think the world saw that in photos like when they were at the Grammys last year; he wouldn’t smile. If they saw how it really was, they would not attack her,’ said the friend of Jennifer. 

‘He chain smokes and cusses and seems irritated a lot of the time. Great director and actor, but not a lot of laughs with him, you know?’ said the source. ‘He is a wonderful father though.’

Lopez plans on pushing on. 

‘She is really not used to this kind of bad feedback, but she will get over it. She will march on,’ said the pal.

‘Jennifer is a very smart and strong woman and she will bounce back, she always does!’

These days she has been leaning on her close friends.

One is stylist Shawn Barton, whose nickname is Beezy. Another is vocal coach Stevie Mackey.

The singer is sad about the end of her nuptials but ‘is trying to make the best of it by working out, spending time with her twins and making new plans for 2025’ (seen with Emme on June 8)

There have been many reports that Ben and Jennifer will announce their divorce soon and plan to do it on a Friday, which is the norm among celebrities who are splitting.

When the source was asked about this they offered, ‘I think they have wanted to wait until all the kids are out of school and done with school plans and all that before they make their big announcement. They are putting the kids first.’

And as far as how Jennifer and Ben are getting along these days, the insider said they are being ‘cordial’ with each other.

So what happened to the once jovial Ben who used to smile at fans and make out with Jennifer in public? 

The source points to the pressure in Ben’s career.

‘He is now filming Accounting 2 and the hours are really long, he is working hard at it and it’s a lot to juggle with marriage and kids,’ said the source. ‘So sometimes he is not in the best mood.’

Meanwhile, Lopez cleared her schedule this summer to give herself some downtime to re-examine her life.

‘She is living alone and not with Ben, I think everyone knows that already, so that is a major change for her and the kids,’ said the pal. Indeed, Ben moved into a $100K a month rental near Garner months ago.

‘Of course Jenny is sad, she loves Ben, but they are just too different, there is no give and take, there was no blending, they are just on separate tracks.’

The source added that Jennifer gave it her all: ‘She really tried hard to make it work, and it just did not work. 

‘She invested a lot of time and energy, and I think he did the same. There is no one to blame here. It just was not in the cards. It is very hard for two massive stars to keep a marriage going, one has to give in, and in this case neither gave in.’