Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck on their second wedding anniversary on Tuesday.
The singer, 55, listed the date of separation as April 26, after months of speculation she had parted ways from the actor, 52.
During their two-year marriage, J-Lo filmed a documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told and it was reported at the time to be a point of contention between the now exes.
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.
The actor had clung onto his correspondence with the singer during his 13-year marriage to Jennifer Garner – and later had the letters and emails bound into a book to gift her when they reunited in 2021.
Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck on their second wedding anniversary on Tuesday
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
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.”
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)
‘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”
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, Seraphina, 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.’
The couple did not sign a prenuptial agreement before tying the knot in July 2022, insiders have revealed.
This marks Jennifer’s fourth failed marriage and Ben’s second.
The couple first sparked separation rumors when they had gone 47 days without being seen together.
Split speculation continued as they did not spend a number of holidays over the summer together and Lopez also walked the red carpet alone at the Met Gala in May — which was also when Lopez called off her world tour ‘to be with her family.’
Since then, the pair have been spending summers on opposite coasts and did not spend their anniversary together.
The couple first sparked separation rumors when they had gone 47 days without being seen together
The couple wed during a lavish Georgia ceremony in August 2022 – one month after legally tying the knot in Las Vegas in July
Jennifer‘s own friends have now suggested the actress needs to ‘look inside herself’ after she filed for divorce from Ben.
A source close to the star told DailyMail.com said those close to Jennifer are now growing tired of her chaotic love life.
The insider told us: ‘After four failed marriages, her friends feel that she should take a look inside and focus on herself instead of what others want her to be and finally figure out who she is and what she wants from her future.’
The source told DailyMail.com that the My Love Don’t Cost A Thing star isn’t the only one capable of playing mind games.
Explaining Ben’s take-the-high-road approach, the insider said: ‘Jennifer said she was tired of being humiliated by Ben and she waited until the two year anniversary because she wanted to sting.
‘But it did not sting him. He’s been done for a long time and deep down she knows this. He let her have this so that she wouldn’t look like the villain.’
The pair were spotted on a number of public outings together, including their very last one on June 2, after they had already decided to go their separate ways almost two months earlier.
At the time, they were seen greeting each other warmly, even appearing to give each other a kiss, as they attended Bens’s son Samuel’s basketball game in Santa Monica.
They also appeared to be in high spirits while leaving together even though, as it is now revealed, they had already secretly called it off.
Split speculation heightened when they failed to spend a number of holidays over the summer together and Jen also walked the red carpet alone at the Met Gala in May — which was also when she called off her world tour ‘to be with her family.’
Since then, the pair have been spending summers on opposite coasts and did not spend their anniversary together.
In recent months, however, the pair have been spotted out together on a handful of occasions — but notably all were when Ben’s kids were present — as they had reportedly been trying to rekindle their romance.
After being noticed without their wedding rings on several outings, they also started making it apparent that they were once again wearing their tokens of commitment.
Jennifer was even seen paying Ben a special visit on his birthday at his rental property in Brentwood, California.
The shocking divorce filing comes after they were seen stepping out together — and even occasionally putting on PDA several times — in an effort to maintain that they were reconciling in spite of being incessantly hounded by rumors of marital strife.
However, the public was largely unaware that they had already separated in secrecy on April 26, which is listed as their official date of separation on Lopez’s divorce filing.
In the weeks prior to their secret split, the pair had been putting on PDA during their outings in late March and being very affectionate while house hunting together in New York City.
After celebrating Easter together in Brooklyn, Ben returned to California to film The Accountant 2.
As news of the divorce broke, the actor was pictured leaving his office, with his wedding ring noticeably absent
Jennifer’s pursuit of financial recompense was in direct response to Ben’s conduct amid the end of the relationship. Pictured in May of 2023 in LA