Rumors have been circulating for months now that Hollywood’s golden couple JLo and Ben are on the rocks, but a clean break would never be easy with their family lives so closely intertwined.
The couple are parents to five children: Emme Maribel Muñiz and Maximilian Muñiz, from Lopez’s previous marriage to Marc Anthony, and Violet Affleck, 18, Fin Affleck, 15, and Samuel Affleck, 12, whom Affleck shares with his ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
Lopez and Affleck seemed to have mastered the blended family, forming close bonds with each other’s children and often being photographed in public sharing special family moments — which made their split even more complicated.
The star couple’s reunion was a fairytale ending to a decades-long romance. But the spark that brought them together appears to have quickly faded, with those close to the couple telling Us Weekly that Ben is “worn down” by the relationship and that “the honeymoon phase has worn off.”
Although they have been married for less than two years, the couple decided to take a break to assess whether their marriage “is good for both of them,” a close source told the publication.
The couple are now believed to be living separately in Los Angeles, with Affleck moving into a $100,000-a-month property in Brentwood earlier this month (May), while Lopez has been staying at the couple’s $60 million ‘dream home’ dollars in Bel Air with their children. The couple always stands united despite their difficulties, keeping their alliances despite the separation.
More recently, Affleck and Lopez attended a high school graduation party together on Thursday (May 30) to mark the occasion of the birth of Ben’s daughter Violet, whom he shares with his ex-wife. Jennifer Garnerin Los Angeles.
Given JLo’s close bond with Affleck’s children and his ex-wife, who, according to a US Weekly source, “encourages Ben to work on his marriage,” it’s no surprise that the singer and actress please share this important milestone.
Lopez, 54, and Affleck, 51, rekindled their romance in 2021 — to the delight of original “Bennifer” fans in the 2000s — and tied the knot in 2022 in Las Vegas, 20 years after they first encounter.
Reuniting later in life, both with previous marriages and children, meant Bennifer became one big blended family – with Lopez wholeheartedly embracing the role of stepmother.
The global superstar wasted no time getting to know Ben’s three children, Violet, Fin and Samuel, and gushed over their idyllic family life, calling her five children “blessings” during a interview with Extra in early 2023.
“It’s going really well; it’s incredible. We have five very beautiful children, blessings,” Lopez revealed to a reporter on the red carpet while promoting her new film Shotgun Wedding.
“We dropped one off at school today and we were just reflecting on what our lives had become and feeling so blessed and grateful for where we ended up in our lives.”
Ben also became a stepfather to JLo’s twins, Emme Maribel and Maximilian, and the couple moved all five children into their Bel Air mansion.
Spot heartwarming snaps of family outings and what seemed like the perfect blended family, with Garner, with whom Affleck is famously on good terms, still firmly in the picture.
The couple even took their five shared children to France to celebrate their honeymoon in July 2022, with photos of the entire brood enjoying a peaceful river excursion together.
Affleck and Lopez looked relaxed, chatting with the kids as they played on the patio and soaked up the sun.
Lopez described becoming a stepmother as an “emotional transition” but also like “all your dreams come true.”
Speaking on the TODAY show last year, Lopez said: “We moved in together. The kids moved in together. It was kind of an emotional transition, but at the same time, all your dreams come true.
“It’s been a phenomenal year. This is my best year, I think, since my children were born.
Lopez has previously spoken about the importance of being a support to Ben’s children, telling Vogue in 2022: “What I hope to cultivate with our family is that his children have a new ally in me and my children have a new ally in him, someone who truly loves them and cares about them, but who can have a different perspective and help me see things I can’t see with my children because. I’m so emotionally connected.
While Affleck told the publication that when it comes to his wife: “There’s something innate, magically kind and good and full of love.”
Before adding: “She’s exactly the person I remember 20 years ago. Maybe she sees all the changes she’s made, whereas when I see her, I mostly see someone one who has retained, against all odds, what about her has always made her most incredible to me: a heart that seems limitless in love. She is my idea of the kind of person I want to be.
Fin Affleck and Emme Maribel Munniz have also formed a close friendship since the families moved in together.
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s 15-year-old Fin, formerly known as Seraphina Rose, and 16-year-old Emme have been regularly spotted walking around Los Angeles, sometimes hand in hand.
Last year, the half-siblings were photographed enjoying rides at Disneyland with Ben’s ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, who is regularly photographed spending time with Lopez’s children.
Garner is believed to be fully supportive of Lopez and Affleck working on their marriage, although he told Vanity Fair that Ben was still “the love of my life” in 2016 after the couple split.
A source told US Weekly: “Jennifer Garner is encouraging Ben to work on his marriage to Jen. She fully supports their relationship and wants nothing more than for his happiness.
The insider also said Garner can understand how the spotlight of fame “can put a strain” on relationships.
Garner and Affleck have maintained a strong bond despite the end of their marriage, both publicly discussing their enduring bond and commitment to co-parenting.
“She’s the brightest person in any room,” Garner told Vanity Fair a year after their divorce in 2016. While Ben called his ex-wife a “superhero mom,” when he spoke to E! Online the same year.
But a less predictable relationship that emerged after the couple split was Garner’s new friendship with Ben’s new girlfriend, former flame Jennifer Lopez.
“Bennifer” was one of the most high-profile unions of the 2000s, and Ben’s marriage to Garner followed quickly after the couple’s very public breakup in 2004.
But despite both being embroiled in Affleck’s complicated love life, the two women have been nothing but glowing with each other.
The couple is reported to have grown closer after Lopez and Affleck reunited in 2021, with Garner, who had already firmly established herself as Ben’s strong co-parent, welcoming J-Lo into the family with open arms.
“JLo has Jennifer Garner’s seal of approval,” an insider exclusively revealed to US Weekly in June 2021. “JLo thinks Jennifer is a kind, wonderful person and an amazing mother.”
While Lopez spoke about Garner as a mother in a 2022 interview with Vogue: “(She’s) an incredible co-parent, and they work really well together.”
Garner and Affleck’s split was amicable from the start, with both men releasing a joint statement explaining that they still have “love and friendship for each other.” despite the end of the relationship.
It said: “We move forward with love and friendship for each other and with a commitment to co-parenting our children whose privacy we ask is respected during this difficult time.”
Amid the difficulties surrounding his relationship with Lopez, Ben reportedly supported his ex following the loss of his father in March 2024.
A source told Entertainment Tonight that Ben is “actively involved” in helping Garner deal with her grief and is “checking in on her and making sure she knows he’s been there for her since the death.” from his father “.
“He was the children’s grandfather and he and Ben always got along well. He considered him family and always will.
It’s clear that the former couple are there for each other in times of need — and if recent reports are to be believed, things could be about to get more turbulent for the family.
Some sources claim Affleck has “come to his senses” with one source telling Page Six that the couple is inevitably headed toward divorce.
Other reports give more hope that, although they face a difficult time, Lopez’s dedication will “turn things around.”
“If it’s just about getting the job done, then you better believe (Lopez) is going to make it right,” says one of Lopez’s Los Angeles-based friends.
“She’s thrown her heart and soul into her romance with Ben and isn’t going to give up without a fight. From what I hear, there’s still a lot of love there, so he has to there is hope.