Jennifer Lopez’s ‘greatest fear’ has come true after she officially filed for divorce from husband Ben Affleck on Tuesday after months of split rumors.
The singer and actress, 55, has openly admitted her terror of being alone and that her need to be adored and in the limelight ‘drives her entire life’.
Her frank admission gives an insight into how tough the end of her fourth marriage will be for Lopez, and not just because she’s because of the personal heartbreak and splitting up her ‘blended family’.
It comes at a tricky juncture in her career, where she faces a battle to establish her legacy after three decades in showbiz – and whichever way she turns, she faces complications.
As an actress, she has the prospect of months of awkardness ahead thanks to two movies she’s made with her ex-husband Ben, 52, and his best friend Matt Damon that she will need to promote.
Then there’s her music career, which has been in uncertain territory for a some time after 10 years without a new album release.
The actress, 55, now faces months of awkwardness promoting two movies with ex Ben, 52, while also trying to save her music career
Jennifer later began to date New York Yankees baseball player, Alex Rodriguez, in 2017 and became engaged two years later in 2019
Her singing career is also now intertwined with her failed relationship with Ben after she spent $20 million making an album and extended music video about their love story.
She was planning to take the album on tour this summer, but it now seems understandable that she cancelled.
We now know that she separated from Affleck on April 26, a week before calling off the tour, and it’s understandable she didn’t want to take to the stage to perform ballads about her marriage that was secretly over.
There are talks of a Vegas residency in 2025, but the tour is unlikely to be rescheduled – unless the entire branding is given a major overhaul.
It’s a lot for anyone to contend with, but anyone expecting Lopez to lick her wounds and focus on her career may be mistaken.
There are suggestions a reunion with her ex-fiancé A-Rod might not be out of the question, should the baseball legend find himself single in the future.
However, even the most devoted fans can become weary and she might struggle to find support for yet another engagement or marriage if she rushes into a new relationship.
She was already being compared to Elizabeth Taylor when she was only twice divorced, and her next moves will be crucial in determening whether her personal dramas will forever overshadow her career success.
No doubt Jennifer’s main focus will be getting her love life back on track after previously admitting ‘the fear of being alone drives her life’
A cancelled tour and an album full of love songs about her failed marriage
When JLo cancelled her summer tour ‘to be with her children, family’, it was interpreted by fans as a warning sign that all was not well with husband Ben Affleck.
The tour was also beset with rumours of low ticket sales and shows in Nashville, New Orleans, Raleigh, Atlanta, Houston, Cleveland and Tampa had already been called off when the singer made the announcement that she was cancelling the rest of her dates.
Just four years ago, the star was applauded for one of the greatest Superbowl halftime shows in history, where she performed a medley of her greatest hits with Shakira as millions of people watched around the world.
So perhaps the lack of enthusiasm for This Is Me…Live – her first tour since It’s My Party in 2019 – was it coming off the back of her musical film and album This Is Me…Now.
The project to make an album and accompanying film This Is Me… Now: A Love Story started life when she told her longtime manager Benny Medina stories about her quest for love before getting back together with Affleck and he encouraged her to use it as inspiration for new material.
‘Let me put you in touch with some writers who can help you transcribe this,’ he told her.
There has also been a lot of noise surrounding her ‘This Is Me… Now’ tour’s poor ticket sales
Her attempt to reinvent herself as a so-called ‘triple threat’ (a singer, dancer and actor) some three decades on from her initial rise to fame is taking everything she has
Lopez invited a team of musicians over to the house and showed them a book of love letters from Affleck he’d saved from when they were dating and had bound in a book.
He was left horrified that she had shown other people such intimate material and that her team have started branding him ‘Pen Affleck’ as a result.
Nonetheless, she persevered with the project which culminated in a 65-minute long film featuring an all-star cast such as Jane Fonda, Sofia Vergara, Neil deGrasse Tyson along with supernatural elements that include a ‘Zodiac love council’ who scrutinise her romantic weaknesses.
The wild project raised the eyebrows of her inner circle, who advised her against shooting the film, suggesting it may be a bad idea – but JLo went ahead and made it anyway.
It also made her longtime producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas ‘uncomfortable.’
It was not a critical success with the The New York Times describing the rather bizarre film as ‘exhausting, never-ending, hazardous’.
Her album of love songs featured in the film was also her worst seller.
Lopez self-financed the project to the tune of $20 million and said that people thought that she was mad to make it. But it is understood that she sold it to Prime Video for a profit – and it notably ranked at No. 1 among the streamer’s films in its debut week.
It was followed by the release of a ‘making of’ documentary, titled ‘The Greatest Love Story Never Told’. That film – detailing her 20-year ‘love story’ with Affleck – was financed by his production company, Artists Equity.
In the documentary, Affleck talked of enjoying the celebrity spotlight less than his wife does, but said he realised it wouldn’t be ‘fair’ to Lopez to remove her from it. That film was also sold at a profit to Prime Video.
Should she decide to tour again, using material generated by the whole debacle seems unlikely, but of course she does have an impressive back catalogue to draw from.
It’s those songs that are likely to be in demand if a rumoured Las Vegas residency goes ahead in 2025.
Earlier this year, MGM Grand and Live Nation reportedly offered $1 million-per-night for 90 shows in 2025, but executives have since grown ‘nervous’ over rumoured poor tickets sales for her cancelled tour.
The most recent reports suggest that negotiations are very much ‘ongoing’ – though no deal has yet been signed.
There is speculation that the deal might now be less lucrative for J.Lo – who previously held a Sin City residency between 2016 and 2018, grossing almost $102 million – but her team seem unconcerned.
One friend told The Mail: ‘[She has had] a phenomenal career and is still a global force.’
Two films to promote with her ex
Pictured: Jennifer Lopez in characteron the set of Ben Affleck’s film Unstoppable. For the shoot, she was casually dressed in flared blue jeans and a sleeveless purple top as she prepared to step in front of the camera
Jennifer Lopez tenderly kisses Jharell Jerome’s forehead in a first look photo from the upcoming film, Unstoppable. The actress, 55, stars as Judy, the mother of wrestler Anthony Lopez in the fact-based story
Jennifer and Ben have outstanding professional obligations to promote a pair of motion pictures they have collaborated on.
Ben and pal Matt Damon are both producers on the forthcoming Amazon MGM Studios sports drama Unstoppable, made by their company Artists Equity.
Jennifer headlines a star-studded cast that also features Jharrel Jerome, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña and Don Cheadle, playing the mother of champion Arizona State University amateur wrestler Anthony Robles, who was born with one leg.
It was recently announced that Unstoppable is set to premiere in the Special Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2024, followed by a limited theatrical release in December 2024, by Amazon MGM Studios.
DailyMail.com has learned that certain producers on the movie are ‘pushing the two to appear together at the premiere in Toronto to create buzz on the film.’
Also in the pipeline for release is her first big movie musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman, on which she was a co-producer alongside Affleck and Damon.
Allies point out that though her new sci-fi film, Atlas – which she stars in and has a producing credit – was widely panned by critics, it nonetheless ranks in Netflix’s top ten most watched movies in 93 countries, taking the No.1 position in many
While working in close proximity with her ex may be awkward, there could be an unexpected silver lining for Lopez.
Her acting career has been peppered with successes including early roles such as Out Of Sight with George Clooney, classic rom-com Maid In Manhattan and Hustlers, which generated Oscars buzz.
But for all those hits, there have been a lot of misses including Anaconda and Gigli, the movie she made with Ben Affleck, which temporarily derailed both of their careers.
It has the dubious distinction of being dubbed one of the worst films ever made, and the director never worked again.
Affleck has won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting and Best Picture for Argo, which he directed, produced and starred in, so perhaps working on his material might actually provide a much welcome career boost.
Ben and JLo previously worked with once another during their romance two decades back, including the famously-panned comedy Gigli in 2003, and the 2004 Kevin Smith film Jersey Girl.
Earlier this year, she starred in sci-fi film, Atlas, on which she also had a producing credit.
It was widely panned by critics, and The New York Post described the film as a ‘flop’ with a ‘dismal’ script.
However, it was a hit with viewers, ranking in Netflix’s top ten most watched movies in 93 countries, taking the No.1 position in many.
Likened to a modern day Elizabeth Taylor
When she was engaged to Ben Affleck the first time round, JLo was already being compared to Elizabeth Taylor who famously married eight times – twice to the same husband.
‘I’m not mad if people call me the modern-day Liz Taylor,’ she told InStyle. ‘We’ve all had a love of our life and failed love affairs. I’m just the biggest romantic.’
Now, as her fourth marriage comes to an end, those comparisons are bound to become even louder.
She first tied the knot with waiter Ojani Noa in 1997 and divorced after 11 months of marriage.
Jennifer later said ‘I do’ to dancer, Cris Judd, in 2001 after the two met on set of her music video for Love Don’t Cost A Thing, but this union was even more short lived and ended in divorce nine months later in July 2002.
Jennifer and her third husband Marc Anthony tied the knot in 2004 during a private ceremony – shortly after her first engagement to Ben Affleck came to an end.
Four years later in 2008, the former couple welcomed twins Max and Emme. However, the two split in 2011 – with the divorce being officially finalized in 2014.
Jennifer and most recent husband Ben first met in 2001 on set of the movie Gigli, becoming engaged in 2002.
That same year, they were set to say ‘I do’ but postponed the wedding due to ‘excessive media attention.’
Jennifer and producer, Ojani Noa, tied the knot in 1997 after the former couple first crossed paths when he was a waiter at a restaurant in Miami; seen in 1998 in Beverly Hills
Jennifer Lopez later said ‘I do’ to dancer, Cris Judd, in 2001 – but the marriage was also short lived when the pair filed for divorce nine months later in July 2002; seen in 2001
Lopez and Marc Anthony first crossed paths in 1998 when he was performing in the Broadway musical titled, The Capeman; seen in 2006 in L.A.
In 2021, Jennifer and Ben rekindled their romance and became engaged once again in April 2022.
A few months later, they said ‘I do’ at a chapel in Las Vegas in July, followed by a larger ceremony at his Georgia mansion on August 20, 2022.
However, earlier this year in May, split rumors began to circulate and on Tuesday – their second wedding anniversary – Lopez officially filed for divorce without an attorney.
Now, Jennifer’s own friends have suggested the actress needs to ‘look inside herself’ after she filed for divorce from Ben.
A source close to the star told DailyMail.com said those close to Lopez are growing tired of her chaotic love life.
‘After four failed marriages, her friends feel that she should take a look inside and focus on herself instead of what others want her to be and finally figure out who she is and what she wants from her future,’ the insider said.
Jennifer’s own friends have suggested the actress needs to ‘look inside herself’ after she filed for divorce from Ben
A-Rod is the only man who matched her lifestyle
Some friends are predicting that Jennifer might sensationally rebound to her former fiancé and Yankees star A-Rod.
‘He was always her best match,’ one friend told Daily Mail’s Alison Boshoff, despite reports that A-Rod’s alleged infidelity led to the collapse of their engagement in 2021.
‘I don’t think cheating is a dealbreaker for her anymore. I think she won’t announce the split until she has someone else lined up in any case.’
The friend added: ‘[A-Rod and J.Lo] were matched in terms of the lifestyle, the looks, the grooming, the private jets and all the rest of it. They were great together; they were a good match. We would not be surprised if they got together again. It was a long-term relationship and their families got really close, they were blended.’
By contrast Affleck was notably uncomfortable in the spotlight during their relationship and reports suggested that he was ‘grumpy and negative’.
Some friends are predicting that Jennifer might sensationally rebound to her former fiancé and Yankees star A-Rod
A-Rod and Lopez started dating in 2017 after he saw her in a restaurant and tapped her on the shoulder.
They went red carpet official at the Met Gala Ball that May. And when he proposed with a $4 million diamond ring in 2019, they received a handwritten note of congratulations from former US President Barack Obama.
At the time of their romance, she told Vanity Fair that nobody could ever understand her in the same way.
‘In his 20s, he came into big success with the biggest baseball contract [at the time]. I had a No. 1 movie and a No. 1 album and made history,’ she said.
The article also detailed how, while suspended from baseball for a year for doping, A-Rod took university classes in investing and marketing, he’s friends with Warren Buffet and attends JP Morgan conferences about Brexit in his spare time.
A-Rod described him philosophy as: ‘When someone offers me a job, I thank the Lord that I have work, and I beg for more work.’
They spent Covid lockdowns together at A-Rod’s Miami mansion but sensationally broke off their engagement in February 2021 after he was linked to reality star and model Madison LeCroy.
A-Rod is currently dating fitness guru Jaclyn Cordeiro.
It is thought she will be looking to replace Ben as quickly as possible after admitting her biggest fear is ‘being alone’.
She previously said: ‘I have fear about the weirdest things, I’ve always had a huge fear of dying or becoming ill.
‘The thing I’m most afraid of, though, is being alone, which I think a lot of performers fear. It’s why we seek the limelight – so we’re not alone, we’re adored. We’re loved, so people want to be around us. The fear of being alone drives my life.’
