Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have reportedly tied the knot three months after becoming engaged again
TMZ reported Sunday morning that the couple collectively known as ‘Bennifer’ obtained a marriage license in Clark County, Nevada.
The license was taken out on Saturday and is in their legal names, Benjamin Geza Affleck and Jennifer Lynn Lopez.
A source close to the on/off couple – who previously dated between 2002-2004 – confirmed to the site: ‘They did, indeed, get hitched and the license is a signal they are now man and wife.’
The wedding news comes exactly one week until the Bronx-born pop diva celebrates her 53rd birthday and less than a month before the Berkeley-born, Cambridge-raised actor will turn the big 5-0.
It’s the second time down the aisle for Ben, who has three children – daughter Violet, 16; daughter Seraphina, 13; and son Samuel, 10 – from his decade-long marriage to Jennifer Garner, which ended in 2018.
Jennifer has 14-year-old fraternal twins – daughter Emme Maribel Muñiz and son Maximilian David Muñiz – from her third marriage to Marc Anthony, which ended in 2011 after seven years.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez first met on the set of their film Gigli in December 2001.
The movie, upon its eventual release two years later, won seven Razzies and was branded ‘unwatchable’ by some critics.
It garnered $7.2m in the box office against a reported $55m budget.
Yet all was not lost, as the film brought Bennifer closer together.
While they were yet to know about their looming box office failure, Bennifer were in front of the camera once more in 2002 as they reunited to shoot the 2004 movie Jersey Girl.
The movie was where their love was cemented and the couple’s romance was born.
Their name was in fact born on-set, as Jersey Girl director Kevin Smith revealed this week: ‘Bennifer’ is trending. It’s a name I first gave the kids during ‘Jersey Girl’ pre-production, before the world found out they were dating…
‘I’d later drop the name in an interview with the @nytimes. Shortly thereafter, it appeared in the article and then entered the vernacular.’
2002 ONWARD
The duo made their red carpet debut at the premiere of her movie Maid In Manhattan and so was the birth of the tabloid favorites and their all singing, all dancing pap personalities.
From red carpet appearances to Juicy Couture tracksuits, they soon became one of the world’s most photographed couples thanks to their Hollywood good looks and glamorous style.
Ben popped the question to Jennifer with an eye-popping 6.1-carat pink solitaire diamond from Harry Winston during a visit to see his family in Boston – leading to a delighted surprise.
She described the proposal, saying:
‘It’s just a blanket, a quilt of rose petals, all over the whole entire house. So many candles, and vases, bouquets. And my song I’m Glad was playing… I walk in and I was just like overwhelmed. I wasn’t expecting it, and I was just like ‘Oh my God.”
Ben then revealed that his mother Christopher Anne Boldt helped him with the proposal, after which Jennifer said: ‘I just started sobbing. Crying. I was like ‘Oh! My God!”
She went on:
‘I had cried a lot over sadness over the years. And for the first time in my life, I cried incredible purging tears of happiness…
‘It was the most cleansing feeling and the most wonderful feeling I had ever had.’
Later that month, Ben appeared in Jennifer’s Jenny From The Block music video including one scene – designed to look like a stealth paparazzi video – showing the actor caressing her famous derriere.
Not content with a video cameo, Jennifer dedicated her sensual and gushing track Dear Ben from her third studio album This Is Me… Then to her husband-to-be.
Days before their highly-publicized wedding, the couple astounded fans when they announced a postponement due to increasingly feverish media attention.
Their statement read:
‘Due to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding, we have decided to postpone the date…
‘When we found ourselves seriously contemplating hiring three separate ‘decoy brides’ at three different locations, we realized that something was awry…
‘We began to feel that the spirit of what should have been the happiest day of our lives could be compromised. We felt what should have been a joyful and sacred day could be spoiled for us, our families and our friends.’
JANUARY 2004
The couple confirmed their split with a simple statement.
Jennifer’s representative announced: ‘I am confirming the report that Jennifer Lopez has ended her engagement to Ben Affleck.
‘At this difficult time, we ask that you respect her privacy.’
2004 – 2005
Later that year, Jennifer sought comfort in her longtime friend, Marc Anthony, explaining: ‘[I wanted to] find someone who could make me feel loved and wanted in my loneliest hour…
‘Thinking back, maybe deep down I knew that this was a Band-Aid on the cut.’
She married the singer that June and went on to have twins with the star in 2008. She divorced Marc in 2014.
Ben meanwhile wed actress Jennifer Garner in 2005 and they share three children, Violet, 15, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9. The couple split in 2018.
