Jennifer Lopez has taken aim at ex-husband Ben Affleck nearly a year after their divorce was finalised.
The pop superstar, 56, first went public with the Hollywood actor, 53, in 2002. Within months they were engaged, however broke up by 2004.
But – after they each moved on and experienced marriage break-downs – they eventually got back together in 2021, and were engaged again by the next year, 20 years after their first proposal.
The couple went on to tie the knot in Las Vegas in July 2022, however in August last year, Jennifer filed for divorce, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’.
Although the former couple have rarely addressed their break-up, this week the singer kicked off her new Up All Night residency in Las Vegas where she made a biting remark about their relationship.
While Jennifer didn’t mention her ex-husband by name, she did allude to their seemingly tumultuous marriage.
During a break between songs, Jennifer thanked fans who had been in the audience nearly a decade earlier for Jennifer Lopez: All I Have, her first Vegas residency, which ran from January 2016 until September 2018.
Reflecting on that time, she shared: ‘It went by in a blink, didn’t it, for those of you who were there on opening night ten years ago?’
After snapping her fingers and being met by applause for fans, she added: ‘And, you know, at that time I’d only been married twice.’
She was then met by laughter from the audience, before declaring: ‘That’s not true, it was only once. It felt like twice.’
Attempting to backtrack a bit, she then smiled and told them she was ‘just kidding’.
‘It’s over, and I just – boom – we’re fine. It’s all good,’ she said before moving on with the show.
Continuing to chat to her fans, Jennifer said the ‘good news’ was that she was ‘learning’ and ‘growing’ following her break-ups. ‘And we’re in our happy era now!’ she declared.
Whilst the singer referenced only being married twice, she’s actually walked down the aisle four times.
Although she was engaged to her high school boyfriend David Cruz – whom she was in a relationship with for nearly a decade – the pair later broke up.
She then went on to marry Cuban waiter Ojani Noa, with their union lasting from February 1997 to January 1998.
After dating producer and rapper Sean Combs from 1999 until 2001, then marrying her backup dancer Cris Judd the same year. They broke up in January 2003.
It was after this that she was in a relationship with Ben for the first time. While they’d crossed paths several times before, the first got to know each other on the set of the film Gigli in 2001 and then worked together on the music video for her song Jenny from the Block.
However the public and media interest in the couple was so intense, they eventually admitted that the ‘excessive attention’ was one reason for their eventual split, with Jennifer also calling it her ‘first real heartbreak’.
‘I think different time, different thing, who knows what could’ve happened, but there was a genuine love there,’ she once said.
Just five months after their engagement ended, Jennifer married singer Marc Anthony. They were together for a decade and welcomed twins Max and Emme in 2008.
In the years since – and before she rekindled her romance with Ben, Jennifer dated her former backup dancer Casper Smart and baseball player Alex Rodriguez – who she was also engaged to but postponed their wedding twice due to the pandemic.
The same month as their relationship was confirmed to be over, she was then linked to Ben again.
After his initial break-up with Jennifer, Ben went on to marry actress Jennifer Garner. They were together from 2005 until 2018 and in that time welcomed three children together – Violet, Fin and Samuel.
A few years after their divorce, he called their split ‘the biggest regret of my life’. ‘It’s a painful experience, even if you’re on the best possible terms and you agree it’s the best choice.’
Following his split from his ex-wives, the actor has remained friendly with both and has regularly been spending time with them.
Speaking to GQ earlier this year, Ben said there was ‘no scandal, soap opera or intrigue’.
He also praised his relationship with the mother of his children, sharing: ‘I’m really lucky that I have a really good co-parent and partner in Jennifer Garner, the kid’s mum, who’s wonderful and great and we work together well.’
A year ago, J-Lo spoke about embracing being single after her highly publicised splits. ‘Yes, I’m not looking for anybody, because everything that I’ve done over the past 25, 30 years, being in these different challenging situations, what can I do when it’s just me flying on my own…what if I’m just free?.’
During the opening night of her residency, Jennifer also took a chance to hit back at critics who have questioned the revealing outfits she wears.
‘It is funny, I do laugh at some of the things people say sometimes and one of the things is, “when she takes pictures she smiles with her mouth open, why does she do that”,’ she said.
Laughing, she went on: ‘”Why is she always dressed that way, why doesn’t she dress her age”, I’m like “huh, if you had this body you would be naked too!”.’
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