Yesterday, in news that did not surprise anyone with even the slightest interest in celebrity gossip, Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck after two years of marriage. The writing has been on the wall for months. The $92-million Beverly Hills mansion the couple bought together was put up for sale; their weddings rings disappeared, reappeared and disappeared again from their fingers; Lopez abruptly cancelled her tour to be with “children, family and close friends”; Affleck reportedly closed on a new bachelor pad the same day Lopez turned 55.
But even though everyone saw this coming — you know it’s over when you’re spending your second wedding anniversary on opposite sides of the continent — the demise of Bennifer 2.0 genuinely feels as sad and seismic as, well, the demise of Bennifer 1.0 did 20 years ago.
This has always been a relationship that has felt equal parts performance art and sincere feelings, a love on such a grand scale that it just had to play out in the public domain. Their romance(s) and separation(s) have played out fully in the public eye, courtesy of the many paparazzi snaps and “insider sources” giving quotes to tabloids, not to mention Lopez’s own social media and blog posts. “Twenty years patient,” Lopez wrote in a newsletter she sent out after the Vegas wedding, signing off as “Jennifer Affleck” to prove she was all the way in on this real-life fairy tale.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck strolling near the Louvre Muse.
