I will never understand why some of y’all insist on bringing such negative energy to the Bennifer Revival. At best, the Bennifer Revival is harmless, fun gossip. At worst, their kids are mad at their parents and it’s none of our damn business! Like, that’s it. It will likely end in tears and drama, but even then, that’s why we’re watching! I hope Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez beat all of the odds and they’re together for years and years. I want to see them at all of the Oscars from now on! I want them at the Met Gala every year! What’s kind of great about the revival is that, so far, Ben is playing along with her shtick. They’re getting tons of attention but it’s no longer about Gigli punchlines and matching orange fake-tans. And Ben wants to keep authentic:
Ben Affleck feels protective of his rekindled romance with Jennifer Lopez. A Hollywood insider tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that the Gone Girl star, 51, has “found someone who truly loves her for her.”
“Ben wants to protect what they have,” adds the insider. And 17 years after breaking off their engagement, the couple “are madly in love,” the insider says.
A source close to Lopez and Affleck says the actor is “very happy” with Lopez and that “she’s wonderful for him.”
“They want to do everything they can to make this work,” adds a Lopez source.
Of the connection between the Hustlers star and two-time Oscar winner, the Lopez source says: “Even though their split many years ago was devastating for Jennifer, she has never had a bad word to say about Ben.”
Ben wants “to protect what they have” is Ben telling J.Lo to ease up on the speculation that they’ll get married in a month and they’ll be together forever. He’s saying, we’re great, we’re fine, you don’t have to advertise our love. Or… is that what he wants people to think? Because they have been advertising their love. And it’s been glorious and fun. But yes, this is the Affleck push-pull – he loves the attention, but he hates that he loves the attention. He loves J.Lo but hates that she loves him.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid, Avalon Red.
I love this.
Like I am going to love the lifetime movie of HM.
End of it.
He loves the right kind of attention. The kind that hails him as an intellectual and brilliant writer. This current circus is the price he’s paying for almost a decade of mess. I still think this is the first stop on his return to respectability tour. He knows they’re going to get overexposed again- and might even be courting it to speed up the timeline. At which point he can publicly pretend to shake himself free of the shallow circus and move on to the next step, which is Serious Bro Writing Time before finding himself someone younger but with cred for a few years. Obvious PR is obvious. This whole ‘protect what they have’ is going to turn into ‘Ben just couldn’t shield them from the glare of the media and Jennifer fought him the whole time’. Count on it.
You have it 100%… I feel like he’s trying to speed the timeline up this time too… The longer they’re together, the more time his kids might have to spend around her and I really don’t think he wants that for them. He knows this will never work, but he’s along for the ride for now. It’s fun for the moment!
Someone said it the other day, he’ll meet an Amal. And I totally think he will. There is no way this is lasting a year and a half like the original Bennifer. Maybe 8 months.
It’s okay that they’re seeing each other yet somehow Ben is concerned for his children? Someone is forcing him to bring his kids around? You comment is insinuating that it isn’t good to have kids around JLo when Ben has the history he does. Wow, it sure pays to be a white man.
This comment reads like mysogyny, or racisism or both. There isn’t anything JLO has done in her life to warrant concern about kids being around her, even precious white kids. This comment section has gone to sh!t lately.
Agree 💯!!!
“GOING TO GET OVEREXPOSED”?
They already are!
No matter who Ben is hooked up with, he is overexposed. The paps chase him around, and yell questions at him. I believe he loves J-Lo, and that contributed to his failed marriage to Jen Garner. J-Lo’s energy level is amazing, and she rarely looks irritated or grumpy. She is fun to be around, and has a zest for life. I hope this works out, and they get married. Their kids must be frustrated, but compared to most children, their life is privileged and they can afford therapy if needed. Ben and Jen are both decent people, and I want them to be happy.
Yep you’re bang on target. He’s in it for a purpose, so is she. He’s looking in better shape than he has for years, and there is ZERO that’s harmful in either of them using this as a launching pad for the direction both take in the future…they won’t stay together, but it’s good for them both…
JUST WHY DOES SHE HAVE A PHOTOGRAPHER ON BOARD THE BOAT AND WHY DOES SHE PRETEND THESE PHOTOS ARE PAPARAZZI OR ACCIDENTAL??!!??!
Because JLO can’t exist without attention. She NEEDS attention, from men, the press, the public. That’s why she has her own personal photographer to document her every moment of every day. She’s a highly insecure, attention seeking celebrity.
I’m with you Kaiser! I am loving it and wanting it to last and last
Seconded (thirded?), I’m loving all of this and it’s the kind of gossip we need. Thank you Bennifer.
Ben’s face looks so ruddy. I hope Jen puts him on a beauty regimen. He’s still handsome.
He’s got himself a hilarious farmer’s tan under that shirt. I’d REALLY hate to see him with his shirt off now. The cringe and second hand embarrassment of these two. Not just for their kids, us, although it’s got to be 9999% worse for them. I would say he’ll never live it down but he did before but it took years. So maybe it will be faster this time? How in the world can he do publicity in Venice for the Last Duel without their stunting taking over? Even if she stays away (my recommendation)
I agree that Ben wants to see himself as a serious intellectual, a gifted writer/director. When we’re uncertain of our lives (and he’s in the midst of a midlife rebirth), we reach for the last thing that made us feel good about ourselves. For Ben, that’s Jennifer.
Jennifer’s smart, but she’s not educated in the same way he’s been educated. And I think that’s an issue for him.
I hope they have the best fun for as long as possible. But the problem with old lovers is that the issues that caused you to split from them pretty much stay the same, no matter how many times they rises from the ashes of their previous mistakes.
How is he more educated than her? I think he maybe had two years of college. I think he has a tremendous amount of respect for her. She is more successful, richer, and has her s*** together. I think those are things he aspires to and why he’s drawn to her.
I never said he didn’t respect her. I said that their educational backgrounds were different, and that’s true. I said that he likes to be thought of as an intellectual, and that is also true. And I said that their differences were an issue for him, which I only think is true, and therefore that’s my opinion.
There are many things that make her attractive to him, not the least of which is that she adores him.
👀 Benny Medina is that you or is it one you hired?
@Merricat I was just adding my thoughts about his respect for her. Had nothing to do with what you said. I agree he thinks of himself as some intellectual which is ridiculous because he didn’t even make it through two years of college. He might like to think that, but it is stupid.
@Truthiness I wish I was either.
I respect Jennifer’s hustle, she’s got that in spades. She is also pretty scrupulous about all the superficial areas of her life. Never in her wildest dreams will she be deemed by society as more successful than a 2 time Oscar winner in a profession where people would give up bodily parts for a single Oscar. He worked his tail off for both Oscars. He is great for gossip because of his addictions but he joins a long ass list of talented people in his profession with addictions and messy romances. The idea that Jennifer Lopez has her sh*t together is laughable at best, 3 failed marriages and yanking her children across the country for her latest romance says otherwise. JLo is known for being a legend in her own mind. I hope these 2 stay together and are good for each other but ffs keep the cameras out of it, it is exhausting and superficial.
Mcali, sorry; you responded to my comment, so I assumed it had something to do with what I wrote.
HS/College doesn’t matter when you’re 50.
It does when it comes to conversation and mutual interests.
1000% agree with Merricat. Being hot for their bod is a good start but there is so much more. Things that rock your world and resonate. In my experience the most important sex organ is the brain.
Well, all the homegirl gotta do is get busy and pull away for a small break.
He wants, she wants, whatever. Maybe some day they’ll talk about what they both want together.
Sorry, Kaiser. The chance of you getting what you want (Oscars, together a long time) is nil. Neither if these two have what it takes to make a real relationship work out. They just don’t. I cannot count how many times we have seen each of them in-love-this-is-the-one-for-keeps-we-promise. They are both exhausting people.
I think it’s great that they have rekindled their relationship after so many years apart. That’s why I enjoy seeing them together.
I love all of this, so much.
We just need the paps to stay hidden out of sight to make this all mentally easier on Ben.
He does not thrive with J.Lo level of attention, but you know he’s going to try to very hard to deal with it this time.
Agree. But he seems to attract paps Jlo or no Jlo.
OH PLEASE. Paps??? The pics are from JLo’s hired help on board: she’s the one posing, pretending she’s not, pretending it’s paparazzi, when it’s her own flippin’ photographer….she’s the thirstiest b!tch on the planet…
Loving every minute of it. They’re our Liz and Dick, damnit!
No. For so many reasons, no.
Sunday you’re wishing the wrong thing. Liz and Dick’s remarriage was a depressing disaster. I do hope eventually they both get out of this without too much damage.
Thank you.
Oh G*d this this this. (I’ll keep reading the posts, tho. Lol)
Like somebody else said, he needs to meet his Amal. Jennifer is too materialistic, no great education (not a knock, just a fact), and Ben would need someone who not only excites him but challenges him mentally. JLo will never do that.
And Jennifer needs someone who will want to put in the physical effort that she goes into the superficial layers, fitness, fashion, etc, and Ben will forever be the Boston boy who doesn’t give a rat’s backside about that, and has no real interest in hitting the gym and running outdoors. He’s not going to be the specimen that Jen will want on her arm.
They’re happy-ish because they’re banging all over the world right now and people are giddily writing about the return of the OG Bennifer. But that can only go so far before their actual personalities and day-to-day lifestyles clash all over again.
Ben is not actually from Boston. He was born in CA and moved to the Boston area when he was 3. 15 years of living in the south has taught me that people view you as being from where you were born not where you were raised. My son moved to the south when he was three and he’s not considered from here. We’ll always be Yankee transplants even though this is the place all of us have lived the longest.
Same for the Midwest. It’s always mystified me. I was born in a small town where the only reason we were there was my fathers job. We left when I was two months old. None of us have been back, none of my family lives there, I’ve never known anyone from there, but people insist that I’m “from” this tiny Oklahoma town that I have zero connection to.
I wonder if this is a Southern or Midwest attitude, that your birthplace marks you forever. On the West Coast, we ask, “Where are you from?” Not “Where were you born?” I honestly don’t know where some of my friends were born. It doesn’t come up often.
Perhaps that’s because in the West, we move around so much, so what’s important is where we’ve spent the most years. What has shaped us. Where we feel at home.
Ben has always presented himself as being from Boston and his best film work represents that. If he left California at 3, he probably doesn’t even remember it.
I’m kind of shocked she hasn’t made him shave lol… She likes her guys clean cut! He didn’t have facial hair the first time.
There’s something off about calling her “materialistic” and “superficial” in this context, IMO. How is she different from any other highly paid celebrity who’s stayed relevant (in celebrity sense) for 20+ years? The fact that she’s still here after 20+ years, with no addiction/abuse/scandal touching her speaks to her professionalism and smarts, doesn’t it?
And actually, I think that’s the attraction for him – HE’S the mess. He’s got a psychological hole he’s trying to fix/fill (with alcohol, attention) and he ends up sabotaging himself (cheating, terrible tattoos) because of it. SHE’S so together, so secure in herself (moves on cleanly after relationships, no pretensions to anything she’s not, business savvy in keeping her “brand” and herself in sync without former overwhelming latter), psychologically sound.
It can be a codependent attraction – addict attracted to the healthy one, healthy one wants to help, to “fix”. But if they’re open and communicating, it could be really good. They definitely need a therapist to make it work though.
NB: not a psychologist, not a Stan of either of these two.
I just can’t get on board with him wanting an ‘intellectual’ given he’s only even dated one (assuming she was) and that didn’t last too long. It just seems like projection that Ben must want an Amal.
Jlo may not be educated but she’s smart. some of these sneering, derogatory comments about her here are pretty gross. When you have achieved what she has, call her whatever you want.
I’m not saying he SHOULD be with an Amal, just that he would WANT to. JLo is smart, but I don’t see her tolerating sitting around indulging in even the most “pseudointellectual” type of conversations that someone like Ben would want to engage in. We’re talking about a guy whose exwife gushingly described him as “always the smartest person in any room.” I do think his demons get in the way of that intelligence and education, but it is actually there, just not in the tortured levels he’s convinced peopke to believe.
And when I call Jennifer superficial or materialistic, I actually don’t mean that in a derogatory way. But she is, by her own admission and branding, very much into the physical and exterior layers (which, by definition, are superficial) and material things like fashion and bling things, that’s why people are so into her as part of a “power couple” in the first place. It’s not a knock on her to remark on the things she acknowledges that she’s actually passionate about.
I’m interested in her travel entourage bc there have been some really good caftans. The yellow one in these pics and on another day someone else in her entourage had a black and white caftan that was also really good.
I am still dying at the picture of them posing in the doorway. they’re not even trying to be subtle lol.
As for “protect what they have” – that seemed weird to me. Does it mean he wants to pull back from the pap strolls and the like?
I just want that hat… 👒
I wish them well, the photos make me smile.
I guess the question is why Ben feels he has to protect JL? Is it because he is realizing that this relationship is becoming huge tabloid fodder because of JL constant need to have her entourage ( photographers, stylists, & particular her manager) & people are calling her out on it? Is it because Ben’s movie The Last Duel promo came out & his romance with JL totally superceded his movie & may supercede his other movies due to be released? Or is it because JL jumped at a rapid speed into another relationship after being together with someone else for 4 years & engaged with their blended families?
JL is a big girl & knows exactly how to promote her brand & earn plenty of $ doing it!
It’s probably really a quote from Benny Medina, not Ben. LOL Her manager is salivating over this reunion. From a PR standpoint, it’s gold. He’s been busy since they had their first date.
Did anyone see the A R news? It seems like he might be a stalker. If this is the case, the protection headline makes sense. The baseball guy may not be wired right.
Are they filming “JFTB II?”
They’re both Leos. I’m pretty sure attention is their life blood. Since he’s given up on being taken seriously (as a person not a creative), I think he’ll just enjoy.
I was thinking the same thing (about both being Leos). Plus, am I the only one who thinks they are having great sex? LOL.
Yes, Jenn and Ben grab your hand and force to click on their posts and open your eyes a la clockwork orange to see their photos, how dare they!
I’ve seen no cigarette smoking. That’s abnormal for him. Has he quit, or has she made him do it away from her and also from any of the paps’ prying eyes so as not to ruin the Bennifer aesthetic she’s going for during their ongoing photoshoot — I mean, vacation?
It’s on the down low for their photo shoot. ‘‘Not in my photos please Ben! ‘’ There was a video of them walking around a town completely surrounded by a huge number of entourage and fans. And he had a cig in one hand and was holding her hand with the other, but you had to look for it as he knows how to keep them hidden when he wants to.
I saw some pictures of him smoking as they walked down the street surrounded by the entourage. I also saw pictures of him at a casino that is just now being reported.
it is a parasitic cycle, ain’t it?
Women, Booze, & Gambling were Ben’s biggest addiction issues. DM just posted that Ben & JL were at a casino in Monte Carlo. Going to a casino & not having alcohol ( Alcohol is everywhere) to an addict would be very difficult & too tempting….I hope Ben retains his sobriety.
The only things he has to “protect” his relationship from is himself and his own shitty behavior. His own ego will kill his relationship again, as it’s killed all the rest. Clueless, over-privileged ass. I’m really surprised Jennifer would ever take him back. Dude won’t change, like ever.
‘But yes, this is the Affleck push-pull – he loves the attention, but he hates that he loves the attention. He loves J.Lo but hates that she loves him.’
i think thats it right there. Not to be corny but he hates anyone who loves him because he hates himself. I think that’s it or close to it
Bingo! He just needs a mommy. Jen fits the bill because she loves him more than he can ever love her. Anyway he left the boat and she seems to be sailing on. New bikini/boat pics up on her IG anyway.
I am sure we will get an explanation why Ben left the boat soon. Stay tuned.
Um hello Jennifer?? Turn around and check out that silver fox behind you in the top picture!! Wow, I would be all “thank you next!”
LOL. Just LOL. How can anyone take these two narcissists seriously? JLO is so insecure and damaged that she’s afraid to be alone for one minute. She’s said that she’s “in love with love”. Those feelings of excitement and giddiness at the beginning of a relationship are great, but she has the emotional maturity of a 11 year old and is unable to cope and deal with a relationship when the initial excitement wears off. She needs the constant validation of adoration. Whether from her lover, the public, her entourage, the press. Why else does she travel with her own professional photographer? Why else is she styled, made up, blown out every. single. day? She can’t take a day off from her persona. She doesn’t know how to separate her public image from her private self. She’s an egomaniac, materialistic, shallow, selfish with zero self-awareness. Ben is self-loathing, self-destructive, self-indulgent. He indulges in all self-destructive behaviors: drinking, gambling, smoking, adultery (when he was married to Jennifer Garner). Both are very driven. JLo is driven to chase after all the obvious trappings of wealth and success. She thinks this validates her. Ben is driven too, but he’s driven to try to escape and silence all the self-loathing voices inside him. Hence, he likes all the self-destructive behaviors because they drown out his demons. He’s flattered that a beautiful woman loves him. It’s a temporary bandage to mask all his feelings of self-loathing. He’s incapable of real intimacy. He’ll ultimately find the relationship suffocating, and he’ll pull away, again, because he can’t be truly intimate with another person.
i appreciate this breakdown, it’s the truth!
His last girlfriend was half his age. Doesn’t fit the Mommy profile. Jennifer Garner does, I will give you that.
I was talking about Jen Lopez -she will mommy him. Dress and feed him. Ana wouldn’t although being a caretaker type doesn’t have anything to do with age really.
Totally with you. I ain’t buying what they’re trying to sell!!!!
Yawn!!!!!!!
She is who she is so is he. All celbs who keep floating are able to do it in different ways not? They all have their own issues like everyone as well…
Normally boating a high life style etc is expected as a couple if you have loads of money I mean. But this is a kind of a front cover relationship they gonna play using it …
I still don’t think the hate for them for it is justified bc other person cannot don’t want to do that ..etc
The comments about moving what seem fast from one to other the children adjustments situation and even from jg angle is justified enough for me …
Let’s hope they make it. It’s better to see… than breaking apart….but they have a big mountain to climb and sharp curves on the road to make unlikely so.
I was in the salon the other day, and the ladies were talking celebrity gossip, and one of them said, “Jennifer Lopez is such a slut. She jumps from one man to the next w/o taking a break. It’s not good to bring all these men around her children”.
I don’t think she’s a slut, but in my opinion, I do think her relationship with BA is all bulls**t. It’s just for show. She’s always posing for the cameras, and BA comes off as such a duffus . Sorry, but I don’t get the attraction for him.
The bennifer summer is honestly great entertainment, it’s fun, over the top and harmless. They seem really happy and hot for each other. It’s like they were feeling more free because the children weren’t on the trip with them? I don’t know if it will last but for now I’m enjoying the ride
lol yes what some people find entertaining, others see right through it and find annoying as hell
The guy standing behind her in the first pic and wearing a matching outfit with Jlo looks familiar. Maybe, a British actor or Cindy Crawford’s husband? But what reason would he be there? I really feel bad for J. Garner and his children. Must feel like, why aren’t we good enough for you, Dad?
This isn’t even fun to me, because I don’t buy it. Not even a little. It’s all curated fan fiction of their own making.
She has an ego so outsized that she is impossible (basing this off people I know who’ve worked with her) and he seems (don’t know anyone with stories about him) unstable and sad. They’re both desperate to bring back the glow of earlier life, hey aren’t we all, especially during a pandemic, but the crash is going to be so hard and I’m just not up for it.
I am from Boston and I Love it! I loved it the first time around and am convinced it was a forced break-up; I heard it was Ben’s mother and Damon was in on it too (which I never understood because he got to marry the girl he wanted to marry!) I attribute a lot of Ben’s substance abuse issues to the forced break-up. I don’t think he ever got over Jennifer L. and this proves some of that!
Didn’t he dump her because he blamed her for their flop movies? He couldn’t handle the press making fun of him, felt like his career was at risk? I can’t believe she went back to him.