Jennifer Lopez Fans Keep Pointing out Ben Affleck Is Single Amid Alex Rodriguez Drama

With the news that Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez may or may not have broken up, the rumor mill is running wild. It was initially reported on Friday that the couple had called it quits, and a source told People that it was “a long time coming.” “He’s now in Miami getting ready for baseball season, and she’s filming her movie in the Dominican Republic,” a source told Page Six. Cryptic Instagrams from both celebs seemed to confirm newly single status, and fans were absolutely shocked.

However, the couple released a statement on Saturday denying the rumors that they had split after two years of dating. “All the reports are inaccurate. We are working through some things,” the couple revealed. The whole ordeal seems to be on the brink of getting quite messy, and with JLo potentially being single again, fans can’t help but notice that one of her famous ex-paramours, Ben Affleck, is also recently single. If low-rise jeans can make a comeback in 2021, can Bennifer?

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Back in the halcyon days of 2002 – 2004, Affleck and Lopez were the hottest celebrity couple going, breaking up after an engagement and postponed nuptials. Both of them credit media interference as one of the major reasons that they broke up, so fans on Twitter couldn’t help but wonder if the time was right for a reunion. 

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“Listen. If Jlo and Ben get back together…” writer Camille Blackett tweeted. “We’re rebooting every damn thing so why not this?!”

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“Ben Affleck: SINGLE. JLO: Single. God bless the broken road that leads us to Gigli 2: More Gigli,” one Twitter user joked.

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“Both members of my favorite Hollywood couple ever are now SINGLE again for the first time in a long time?! #Bennifer back?!” one fan tweeted. 

While the break-up may have been a brutal one, the exes have spoken of each other fondly over the years. “I keep in touch periodically with her and have a lot of respect for her,” Affleck told The New York Times in 2020. “How awesome is it that she had her biggest hit movie at 50? That’s f—— baller.” Affleck added that Lopez should have nabbed an Oscar nom for Hustlers because “she’s the real thing.”

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Having a relationship in the public eye is always difficult, and Lopez admitted that it was a tricky thing to navigate. “We didn’t try to have a public relationship. We just happened to be together at the birth of the tabloids, and it was like, ‘Oh my God.’ It was just a lot of pressure.”

Lopez also told W Magazine that the relationship was “self-destructive” and brought out her insecurities. “I lost my sense of self, questioned if I belonged in this business, thought maybe I did suck at everything,” Lopez explained. “And my relationship [with Affleck] self-destructed in front of the entire world. It was a two-year thing for me until I picked myself up again.”

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Tabloid culture was at a fever pitch at the time, and Lopez has said in the past that it took a real toll on the relationship. “It was actually worse then,” she told InStyle. “It was just crazy. Now at least I can show you who I am a little bit. Back then you just believed anything you read on the cover of a tabloid. Many times it wasn’t true, or it was like a third of the truth.”

Affleck opened up on The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast that celebrity gossip was particularly cruel about Lopez. “People were so f—— mean about her — sexist, racist. Ugly, vicious s— was written about her in ways that if you wrote it now you would literally be fired for saying those things you said. Now it’s like, she’s lionized and respected for the work she did, where she came from, what she accomplished — as well she f—— should be!”