SINGER JENNIFER LOPEZ has filed for divorce from her husband, actor Ben Affleck. US media reported the split on Tuesday, two years after the couple officially tied the knot.
Lopez filed the divorce papers with a Los Angeles court yesterday, according to Hollywood outlet Variety and celebrity gossip website TMZ. The papers said that the couple had separated in April 2024, and were no longer on speaking terms.
Neither of the celebrities provided any comment on the split.
It is the fourth divorce for Lopez, 55, and the second for Affleck, 52.
The pair first became romantically involved on the set of the widely-panned film ‘Gigli’, in which the pair play mobsters involved in a botched kidnapping.
After becoming a media sensation, they announced their first engagement in 2002. However, their nuptials were postponed in 2003, with a break-up being announced in 2004.
Flash-forward to 2021 though, and ‘Bennifer’ was once more setting the internet alight, with photos of the pair together again surfacing.
“It’s a beautiful love story, we got a second chance,” said Lopez at the time.
They announced a second engagement in April 2022, and married in Las Vegas that July.
This was followed up with a more official ceremony a month later at Affleck’s estate in Georgia, attended by some of the Bostonian’s long-time friends actor Matt Damon and director Kevin Smith.
They reportedly purchased a home in Los Angeles together last year, costing in the realm of $60 million.
However, not all was well in paradise. Rumours of marital trouble began to emerge earlier this year in the entertainment press and social media, and fans noted that Lopez celebrated her 55th birthday in July sans spouse.
Scrutiny has not just been restricted to their personal lives.
In March, Lopez dropped seven shows from her ‘This is Me…Now’ tour, which had been struggling to fill seats. In April, it was rebranded to ‘This is Me…Live/Greatest Hits’, reportedly in an attempt to draw in more crowds with some of her classics.
In June, the tour was cancelled, a decision that Lopez said had her “heartsick and devastated”.
“Please know that I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t feel that it was absolutely necessary. I promise I will make it up to you and we will all be together again,” she said in a statement on her website.
A spokesperson said that she was taking time “to be with her children, family and close friends”.
Lopez was previously married to actor Ojani Noa, dancer Cris Judd, and singer Marc Anthony, with whom she has twins, Max and Emme.
Affleck was married to actress Jennifer Garner, with whom he has three children: two girls, Violet and Seraphina, and a boy, Samuel.
With reporting from © AFP 2024.
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