Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's romance has been years in the making.
The couple first met and got engaged in 2002, but called it off in 2004. They reconnected in 2021 and tied the knot, 20 years after first meeting, in 2022.
Lopez was so inspired by their romance that she made it the focus of her 2024 album, “This Is Me... Now,” and its accompanying documentary, "The Greatest Love Story Never Told."
During a Feb. 15 appearance on TODAY, Lopez shared how “supportive” Affleck was of her new body of work. One of the songs from the new album, "Dear Ben," is a followup to a 2002 song of the same name, and speaks about how their romance evolved.
“He inspires me and obviously, the feelings between us inspired me making this music,” she said.
“He’s always supportive of whatever I’m doing,” she continued. “And he knows that I’m a creative person and I’m an artist, and I’m going to express myself in the ways. I don’t think anybody really understood what I was trying to do and that made it hard... But he was always kind of like, ‘You can do this. Whatever you want to do. I believe in you, so you go and do your thing.’”
Read on to see a timeline of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s relationship.
2002: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck meet for the first time
In 2002, Lopez and Affleck first crossed paths when they met on the set of their movie, "Gigli," which was released the following year.
At the time, Lopez was still married to her second husband, Cris Judd. However, in July 2002, Lopez filed for divorce from Judd, citing "irreconcilable differences," according to People. This led Lopez and Affleck to strike up a public romance shortly after.
While recalling their first encounter, Lopez told People in 2016 that she “felt like … ‘OK, this is it,’” when she started talking to Affleck.
“(But) sometimes I feel like what you think people are and how you see them when you love them is different than when they reveal later," she added.
2002: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck get engaged
In November 2002, Affleck and Lopez got engaged.
In an interview with Diane Sawyer at the time, Lopez explained how it felt to see the engagement ring he proposed to her with on her finger.
"It's the most magnificent thing I've ever seen," she said. "I still look at it. I kind of marvel at it. He was like, 'I just wanted you to have something that nobody else would have.'"
2004: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck break up
In 2004, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck called off their engagement.
During a November 2022 appearance on Apple Music, Lopez talked about their breakup and said it was her “biggest heartbreak.”
“Once we called off that wedding 20 years ago, it was the biggest heartbreak of my life, and I honestly felt like I was going to die," she said. "And it sent me on a spiral for the next 18 years where I just couldn’t get it right.”
2021: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck reconnect
In 2021, Lopez and Affleck reconnected after she broke up with fiancé Alex Rodriguez earlier that year.
In an interview published Dec. 1, 2021, in WSJ. Magazine, Affleck said that getting back together with the pop star was "beautiful."
“I can say that it’s definitely beautiful to me,” Affleck said of their reunion. He didn't specify how their relationship rekindling came about, but he did say that he did say that it was in a “healthy” way.
During a May 2023 appearance on TODAY, Lopez's mom, Guadalupe Rodríguez said she always felt like her daughter and the actor were meant to be.
“I knew that you would always get back together because I prayed for 20 years,” Guadalupe Rodríguez told Lopez on the show.
In response, Lopez playfully nodded and said, "OK," as if she had heard that before.
February 2022: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck cozy up on the red carpet
The two returned to the red carpet as a couple at the February 2022 premiere of Lopez's film, "Marry Me." The two showed off plenty of PDA as they posed for photos in wedding-coded attire.
“It’s a great date night. We’re super happy,” Lopez told “ET.” “What can I tell you? We’re just having a good time.”
April 2022: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck get engaged (again)
In April 2022, Affleck popped the question to Lopez for a second time.
The "On The Floor" singer shared the happy news to her fans when she posted a video of herself admiring the ring, which featured a green diamond on her finger.
July 2022: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck get married in Las Vegas
In July 2022, Lopez and Affleck got married in Las Vegas.
Lopez's rep shared the happy news in a statement to TODAY.com.
"We did it. Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient," she said.
Lopez also talked about their wedding, which happened "exactly" the way they wanted. Lopez said that she and Affleck waited in line with four other couples to wait for their wedding license.
“Behind us two men held hands and held each other. In front of us, a young couple who made the three hour drive from Victorville on their daughter’s second birthday — all of us wanting the same thing — for the world to recognize us as partners and to declare our love to the world through the ancient and nearly universal symbol of marriage,” she wrote.
“So with the best witnesses you could ever imagine, a dress from an old movie and a jacket from Ben’s closet, we read our own vows in the little chapel and gave one another the rings we’ll wear for the rest of our lives,” she added.
On her wedding day, Lopez donned two gowns, one was a textured long white dress she sported solo on Instagram and the other was a white, off-the-shoulder dress that she was pictured in next to Affleck.
Although fans theorized that the “dress from an old movie” Lopez was referring to was her dress from “Jersey Girl,” the actor confirmed that it wasn't in a Feb. 13 interview with Variety.
“No, that’s not true,” she said of the speculation while letting out a huge laugh. “I wish it was. I wish I did have that dress. I don’t have that dress.”
“No, this was a different dress that I had. Believe it or not, I was doing so much press for ‘Marry Me’ or ‘Shotgun Wedding’ or one of those, and so, I had all these wedding dresses in my house. And when we, at the spur of the moment decided to get married that day, I just had a dress. It’s not from a movie,” she shared. “Yeah, I never wore it in a movie. It was just, I had it because I was doing photo shoots and performances of ‘Marry Me’ everywhere at that time.”
August 2022: A second wedding in Georgia
The couple shared a second set of vows in a more formal ceremony held at Affleck's estate on Hampton Island Preserve near Savannah, Georgia, on Aug. 20, 2022.
The ceremony was officiated by life coach and author Jay Shetty. Both Lopez and Affleck wore Ralph Lauren Couture for the ceremony, with the pop star changing gowns a few times throughout the night.
November 2022: Jennifer Lopez shares why she changed her last name
In a November 2022 interview with Vogue, Lopez opened up about her decision to take her husband's last name.
After receiving some backlash about it, especially in an opinion piece by The New York Times, Lopez said she felt it was only right to change her last name to Affleck because she and the actor are now husband and wife.
“People are still going to call me Jennifer Lopez. But my legal name will be Mrs. Affleck because we’re joined together," she said. "We’re husband and wife. I’m proud of that. I don’t think that’s a problem.”
Feb. 4, 2024: Ben Affleck sings for Jennifer Lopez in Dunkin' commercial
At the 2024 Super Bowl, Dunkin' aired an ad that showed Affleck performing a song, alongside Tom Brady and an embarrassed Matt Damon, in front of J. Lo.
Although Jack Harlow, who also appeared in the ad, told Affleck not to do it, he still did it anyway.
“Sometimes it’s really hard to be your friend,” Damon said during the performance.
Lopez was shocked by the song, and Affleck and his dance crew left the recording studio without landing a spot on her album.
“Remember when I told you I’d do anything for you? This is anything,” Damon said at the end of the clip.
“Chill. They're naming a drink after us,” Affleck replied.
Feb. 15, 2024: Jennifer Lopez says Ben Affleck inspired her new album "This Is Me... Now"
During a Feb. 15 appearance on TODAY, Lopez talked about her new album, "This Is Me... Now," which takes listeners on an emotional journey of her love life through the years.
On the show, Lopez said her romance with Affleck "inspired" her to make this album after they reconnected a few years prior.
“He inspires me and obviously, the feelings between us inspired me making this music,” she said.
Lopez added that Affleck has also been very “supportive” of her work. On the album, Lopez has a song called "Dear Ben, Pt. II," which is the sequel to her 2002 bop, “Dear Ben.”
“He’s always supportive of whatever I’m doing. And he knows that I’m a creative person and I’m an artist, and I’m going to express myself in the ways. I don’t think anybody really understood what I was trying to do and that made it hard...,” she said. “But he was always kind of like, ‘You can do this. Whatever you want to do. I believe in you, so you go and do your thing.’”
Later that morning on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, Lopez played a game with Hoda Kotb and revealed that she would get jealous if someone hit on Affleck.
“Don’t play with me, do not play with me” Lopez said with a smile as Hoda cracked up.
“I’m a lover, not a fighter but I would let them know, in a very elegant and ladylike way, to step all the way off,” Lopez concluded.
Feb. 26, 2024: Ben Affleck had 'an adjustment' to Jennifer Lopez including their relationship in her work
Lopez released "This Is Me... Now" the film and her documentary "The Greatest Love Story Never Told" in February 2024.
Affleck expressed hesitancy with how transparent Lopez is about their relationship in her work.
“I did really find the beauty and the poetry and the irony in the fact that it’s the greatest love story never told,” he told the cameras. “And if you’re making a record about it, that seems kind of like telling it.”
Affleck chalked it up to artistic inspiration and said Lopez’s style was “an adjustment” for him.
“Jen was really inspired by this experience, which is how artists do their work,” he said. “I certainly do the same things, but things that are private, I have always felt, are sacred and special because, in part, they’re private. So this was something of an adjustment for me.”
Affleck said he more fully came around when he realized the thesis of the projects was not him, but love.
“I don’t really love being in the making of documentary about my personal life, which is why I’m so relieved that I’m not really, it seems like I might be in this, but I’m not really,” he said. “I was worrying for no reason. The movie wasn’t about me. It was about the ability to love yourself and that love story is a lot f---ing harder to find than Prince Charming.”