Ben Affleck made rare comments about Jennifer Lopez in a new interview, where he called her his “wife” amid their ongoing marital woes while discussing her epic level of fame.
The Argo star, 51, told Kevin Hart during the season 4 premiere of his Peacock talk show, Hart to Heart, on Thursday, June 20, that he doesn’t like “attention,” which is one of the reasons he tends to look so miserable in paparazzi photos.
“That’s why people see me, and they’re like, ‘Why’s this dude always mad?’ Because somebody has their camera and sticks it in my face,” he explained.
Ben added, “I don’t mind you taking my picture at a club or a premiere, with my wife, I don’t give a f–k. Go ahead. Knock yourself out. I don’t notice you.”
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It’s unclear when the segment was filmed, but the Gone Girl star was wearing the same gray cardigan sweater he donned in paparazzi photos taken on May 2. In Touch exclusively reported on May 15 that Ben had moved out of the couple’s $60 million Beverly Hills home and the pair where “headed for a divorce.”
The He’s Just Not That Into You actor discussed how Jennifer’s level of fame continues to amaze him, saying, “People love her, and she really represents something important to people.”
“[To me,] people are like, ‘Hey, I like your movie,’ and then they’re like ‘AAAHHHH! J-LO!,’ It’s amazing, you know what I mean?” he continued, marveling about the level of excitement Jennifer, 54, generates among fans.
While taking their blended family to see a play in New York City, Ben recalled how they needed to walk a bit to get to the theater, which resulted in fan mayhem. He shares three kids, Violet, 18, Fin, 15, and Sam, 12, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner, while J. Lo shares twins Max and Emme, 16, with ex-husband Marc Anthony.
Once one person recognized Jennifer, “hundreds of people” were “screaming” for them.
“We get out of the car, we were going to a play, and I was like, ‘F–k it, baby, we’re going to be late, we gotta walk a block and a half.’ She was like, ‘Alright,’ she didn’t say s–t,” he explained. “Get out with her, all the kids, through Times Square, and the s–t was, like, f–king bananas.”
An insider previously cited one of the main obstacles in the couple’s relationship was the different ways they handled the spotlight, as Jennifer embraces media attention and Ben is much more private.
“Ben already moved out and they’ll likely have to sell the dream house they spent two years searching for. They’ll never stop loving each other, but she can’t control him, and he can’t change her. There’s no way it could have lasted,” a source told In Touch on May 15.
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“Getting back together, I said, ‘Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media.’ Then I sort of realized it’s not a fair thing to ask. It’s sort of, like, you’re going to marry a boat captain and you go, ‘Well, I don’t want the water.’ We’re trying to learn to compromise,” Ben lamented in Jennifer’s February Prime Video documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told.
Jennifer added, “I don’t think [Ben] is very comfortable with me doing this, [but] he doesn’t want to stop me.”
The couple nearly married in 2003 during their first romance, but called off their wedding at the last minute and broke up in January 2004. Ben and Jennifer reunited in April 2021 shortly after her split from former fiancé Alex Rodriguez. They got engaged in April 2022 and eloped to Las Vegas three months later.
