'She's pretty extraordinary': Ben Affleck shares rare insight into Jennifer Lopez marriage
Despite the pair divorcing, Ben described why he looks at JLo as a ‘pioneer’ who taught him a lot
Bennifer might not have lasted as a power couple, but there’s still plenty of love and respect between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.
The pair are something of a modern day Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Their romance started in the early 2000s, with the pair getting engaged but never making it down the aisle. Then nearly 20 years later, they rekindled the romance and tied the knot, with their marriage lasting between 2022 and 2024.
Proving that a divorce doesn’t have to turn lovers into enemies, Ben has recently praised Jennifer as "extraordinary", sharing the "enormous amount of respect and admiration" he holds for her and acknowledging that she taught him a lot over the years.
Appearing on the podcast, The Moment with Jorge and Paola Ramos, Ben expanded on comments he made in an interview with Variety recently, telling the hosts it would be hard "to sum up the things I got to learn from knowing Jennifer and witnessing her."
He shared, "I think to understand Jennifer Lopez, honestly, is to understand somebody who really is a pioneer who did things when he was told they’re not possible and you’re not welcome and by kind of force of will."
He added, "in terms of professionally, watching her do what she does, I think that she’s exposed to a degree of criticism in which there is an implicit or at least subconscious double standard."
Continuing to heap praise on the singer/actress/entrepreneur, Ben continued, "I stand in enormous respect for what she’s been able to achieve, and she’s always done it by saying, ‘Even if nobody else believes in me, I’m going to bet on myself.’
"She’s also taken real risks, invested her own money, she’s done all the things that we’re told, ‘This is what great American entrepreneurs do.’ She’s done them to spectacular success and I have nothing but respect for her.
"She is probably the hardest working person that I’ve ever known."
Their marriage ended in 2024, but Ben revealed that there were many lessons from his time with her.
"I learned a lot, not just from her, but from her family and the people I got to know through them… She’s pretty extraordinary, and I’m not surprised at all to see her having ongoing success, and I wish it for her. She deserves it in every way."
Despite calling time on their romance, the pair continue to be in one another’s lives, often spotted attending events with each other’s children from previous relationships. Jennifer’s twins, Max and Emme, were from her marriage to singer Marc Anthony. Ben shares three children with his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner.
