Jennifer Lopez reflects on divorce from Ben Affleck: 'It changed me'
Jennifer Lopez is opening up about her divorce from Ben Affleck, calling it a turning point in her life.
In a new interview with "CBS News Sunday Morning", the singer and actress shared why she sees an unexpected upside to the breakup, describing that period as "the best thing that ever happened to me."
"Because it changed me," Lopez said. "It helped me grow in a way that I needed to grow ....[I] became more self-aware, I am a different person now than I was last year, a year and a half ago."
Affleck serves as an executive producer on Lopez's new film "Kiss of the Spider Woman", which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January -- the same month the former couple finalized their divorce, according to People.
Reflecting on working on the film during such a tumultuous time, the singer called it "the best and the worst of times."
"Every moment on set, every moment I was doing this role, I was so happy," she said. "And then it was like, back home, it was not great. And it was just like, oh, you know, 'How do I reconcile this?' but you get through it."
Affleck and Lopez first began dating in 2002 but ended their engagement in 2004. Lopez later married Marc Anthony, with whom she shares twins Max and Emme, while Affleck wed Jennifer Garner and had three children: Violet, Seraphina and Samuel.
The couple reunited in 2021 and married in Las Vegas in July 2022, followed by a larger celebration in Georgia a month later. Two years later, Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024, according to legal documents obtained by ABC News.
Earlier this year, Affleck opened up about his divorce from Lopez in an interview with GQ, calling the split "pretty adult" despite what he described as the "sensational" media coverage surrounding it.
Discussing why his personal life draws so much attention, Affleck remarked, "My life is actually pretty drama-free. I'm sure in your mind you're thinking, 'Oh, well, you just got divorced. That's not drama-free.'"
Affleck continued, "But all of this is pretty adult, and for all the sensational stuff that gets written, if somebody sat down and talked to me about it, and I said, 'Well, this is really the experience,' their eyes would glaze over with boredom."
In a follow-up conversation with GQ days later, Affleck reiterated his admiration for Lopez.
"I hope I was clear that really this is somebody I have a lot of respect for. And I get wanting to divine or explore the kind of differences in perspective that we have in terms of how a person feels comfortable approaching the line between public and private life," he said, noting that he holds no "negativity or judgment" about those differences.
"Like I said, the truth is much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting," he added.
