Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s divorce came as a surprise to neither party, as sources say the split was “planned” and the pair agreed that she’d be the one to file the paperwork.
“J.Lo finally pulled the trigger because that was their agreement that she would file, and she was the one who ultimately made the decision,” a source told Us Weekly, noting the two had “gone through all the details” before the Bronx native’s filing.
However, whether the stars agreed upon exactly when Lopez would file for divorce remains unclear.
The songstress raised eyebrows when she submitted her documents on August 20 — two years to the day of their wedding celebration in Georgia after eloping in Las Vegas in July 2022.
Filing for divorce on the anniversary was, as a source told Entertainment Tonight, Lopez sending “a message.”
Two days later, Lopez also filed to legally restore her maiden name and drop Affleck from her moniker.
A documentary caused issues.
According to recent reports, The Greatest Love Story Never Told— a documentary about the making of This Is Me…Now: A Love Story, J.Lo’s companion film to this year’s Ben-centric album — was among the things that caused issues in their marriage.
“Ben thought Jen was on the same page as him, but realized they weren’t when she wanted to share private conversations and letters he wrote her,” a source told ET.
Ben in the doc expressed how mortified he was about having those intimate elements exposed, even to confidants of Jennifer.
In a foreshadowing of events, J.Lo’s Monster-in-Law costar Jane Fonda even warned in the documentary that overexposure — which ostensibly caused the demise of the pair’s romance in the early aughts — could once again jeopardize their relationship.
Ben all but confirmed as much when he opened up in June on their differing attitudes toward fame.
Their rocky relationship fueled speculation for months.
The pair’s status had been the subject of speculation since the spring, with rumors of divorce only intensifying as Ben moved out of their $60 million Beverly Hills mansion, which they quietly put on the market in June and publicly listed last month.
As the former couple now work out the details of their assets, money from the sale of the home is really all they need to divide — despite reports they didn’t have a prenup in place when they said, “I do.”
“One person doesn’t want more than the other,” said the Us Weekly source. “They both came in with significant assets of their own.”
Ben and Jennifer were previously engaged in the early 2000s before calling off the wedding and eventually going their separate ways. They reunited in 2021, not long after Jennifer split from fiancé Alex Rodriguez.
-by Jami Ganz, New York Daily News (TNS)
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