Jennifer Lopez makes candid confession about divorce: 'There's nobody to blame here except yourself'
JLo opened up on divorcing Ben Affleck, and the ‘healing process’ that she’s been on since
Like that of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s love story captured imaginations for decades. Alas, it seems to have come to an end, following their divorce that was finalised at the start of 2025.
Since splitting, both JLo and Ben have seemingly appeared friends, with Ben attending Jennifer’s film premiere for Kiss of the Spider-Woman months after the divorce was done.
Neither one has shared much about the split, which makes Jennifer’s latest comments on the Smartless podcast a rare insight into a Hollywood power couple. Jennifer described the last five years of her life as a "tumult" and that she had to sit down and realise "you need to f***ing figure yourself out."
Having rekindled with Ben in 2021, Jennifer told the podcast hosts, actors Sean Hayes, Will Arnett and Jason Bateman, "The past five years has been a tumult."
She continued, "The last two years has been kind of the healing process from that tumult where I really got to know myself. The person I am today is so different than the person I was even two years ago, it's crazy.
"Now I can really look at my life, appreciate it for what it is and what I've created for myself and be really happy.”
Jennifer was frank in accepting there was blame on both sides when it’s come to tough chapters in her life. She revealed, “Not that people don’t behave in a way that’s not great, but what are you doing? What do you have going on?”
“My life blew up in my own face,” she shared, adding, “It was because of the choices I made, but also because of the fact that I had things that needed to change about myself that I didn't understand or recognise".
"There comes a point where it's all so puzzling and wrong where you have to sit there… After my last divorce, I just sat there, and I was like, I cancelled my tour… I was just like, you need to f***ing figure yourself out.”
“What is going on with you? Forget about everybody else. There’s nobody to blame here except yourself in a certain way.”
Now, a year on and facing a new chapter as her twins go off to college, Jennifer is in a much better place. She shared of her new home, “It's amazing. I built my little corner of the world dream house, I got my kids some horses, we have stables. I was like, 'Please come home, please come back home to your horses. There's horses here.’”
Her twins will be leaving later this year, but JLo is ready to be an empty nester. On a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s TV show, she shared, "I remember being that age and thinking I couldn’t wait to get out in the world and do my thing.
"All year people are asking me, ‘Oh they’re going away to college, it's going to be terrible.’ No, it’s going to be great. I want them to go out there and do what they want to do. They have dreams. They have things they want to do."
As to whether having an empty nest might mean she’s open to dating again, it doesn’t seem like she’s in any rush.
After confirming that she was still single to Jimmy, JLo declared, "I should have done it sooner! I’ve been doing it all wrong.
"I’m not doing anything to ruin how I feel right now. It’s fantastic. I love it."
