Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s high-profile relationship has once again come under scrutiny, with the couple not being seen together for 47 days.
This absence has fuelled speculation about the nature of their marriage, with some questioning whether their reunion was a genuine rekindling of romance or a calculated PR move.
The last time Lopez, 54, and Affleck, 51, were publicly spotted together was on March 30, holding hands in New York City. Since then, they’ve been leading separate lives, igniting reports of a split.
Lopez has been heavily engaged in New York, promoting her upcoming Netflix movie Atlas and co-chairing the 2024 Met Gala—events notably devoid of Affleck’s presence.
She also spent time filming Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Meanwhile, Affleck has remained on the west coast, filming The Accountant 2 and attending Tom Brady’s roast solo on May 5.
Adding fuel to the fire, Lopez was recently seen house hunting in Beverly Hills without Affleck, while accompanied by her producing partner, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas.
The Batman actor, on the other hand, was spotted in the Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles, leaving a home he’s reportedly been staying at alone.
Despite their fairytale wedding, the couple have had a series of tense moments while out in public, including their infamous awkward exchange at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
“I saw [host Trevor Noah approach] and I was like, ‘Oh, God,'” Affleck told The Hollywood Reporter. “They were framing us in this shot, but I didn’t know they were rolling. I leaned into her and I was like, ‘As soon as they start rolling, I’m going to slide away from you and leave you sitting next to Trevor.’ She goes, ‘You better f—ing not leave.’ That’s a husband-and-wife thing.”
These developments lead to the question: Was Bennifer 2.0 more about public relations than true love?
The couple, who rekindled their early 2000s romance in 2021, captivated the media with their seemingly fairytale reunion. They eloped in Las Vegas in July 2022, followed by a star-studded reception at Affleck’s Georgia estate.
Their relationship has always been a media magnet. Originally meeting on the set of Gigli in 2002, their romance was highly publicised, culminating in an engagement that featured a stunning pink diamond ring.
However, intense media scrutiny led to their breakup in January 2004, just days before their planned wedding.
After their split, both Lopez and Affleck married other people and started families. Lopez married singer Marc Anthony, with whom she has twins Max and Emme, while Affleck married actress Jennifer Garner, sharing three children: Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel. Both marriages eventually ended in divorce, but Lopez and Affleck remained on good terms.
Their 2021 reunion came on the heels of Lopez’s split from former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and Affleck’s breakup with actress Ana de Armas. The timing led some to speculate about the authenticity of their renewed romance.
Raising further questions, Lopez’s best-friend, actress Leah Remini, was noticeably absent from her 2022 nuptials to Affleck. Remini did however manage to attend Lopez’s ex-husband Marc Anthony’s star-studded wedding to model Nadia Ferreira in Miami last year.
In an industry where image is everything, the revival of Bennifer provided a nostalgic boost, capturing public and media attention.
Their elopement and subsequent celebration seemed like a storybook ending, but the current distance between them raises questions about the underlying motivations for their reunion.
Was their marriage a genuine rekindling of past love, or a strategic move to bolster their public profiles? As rumours continue to swirl, fans and critics alike are left to ponder the true nature of Bennifer’s relationship.
