Ben Affleck has made quite a memorable name in Hollywood owing to his extensive career with movies like Gone Girl and He’s Just Not That Into You among many other iconic films. Of course, his role as Batman in the DC Universe takes the cake.
With Ben Affleck starring in one box office hit after another and winning awards for his work, everything seemed to be going well. However, his career faced a downward trajectory in the early 2000s. The decline in his career included starring in movies that weren’t very well-received by fans and critics alike. Well, many fans, including actor Matt Damon, believed that his relationship with singer Jennifer Lopez was to be put to blame for this.
Did Jennifer Lopez Affect Ben Affleck’s Career?
Ben Affleck has already expressed acknowledgment of his short-lived downfall in Hollywood. Since he was with Jennifer Lopez at the time, he stated that the media attention might have been bad for his career. He said that the tabloids began crossing the thin line between his professional and personal life, which made his relationship pay the price.
“I ended up in an unfortunate crosshair position where I was in a relationship and [the media] mostly lied and inflated a bunch of salacious stuff for the sake of selling magazines. And I paid a certain price for that.”
The Good Will Hunting actor, Matt Damon has been friends with Affleck since they were kids. Matt Damon stated that he noticed how his friend’s relationship with Lopez was affecting Affleck’s career. He stated that once the media has caught your sight, they wouldn’t let go easily.
“If you end up in their crosshairs, you’re really f*****. Because there is an absolute relationship between how f***** you are, if you’re on the cover of their magazines, and what happens to you as an actor. I mean, nobody knows that more than Ben.”
While many fans believed that Affleck and Lopez were continuing their relationship because of the media attention it is gaining, Damon was not having any of it. He stated that Affleck was in the relationship “for the right reasons” since the tabloids were proving to cause harm to Affleck’s career.
The saying, ‘all press is good press,’ did not fit in this scenario, as the increasing media attention towards Bennifer’s high-profile relationship only caused problems in his career.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s Relationship Timeline
The stars met on the set of Gigli, back in 2001, which turned out to be the catalyst they needed for their relationship. After dating for a while, Affleck proposed to the Ain’t Your Mama singer on November 2002. Mere days before their wedding in 2003, the couple announced that the wedding was postponed. However, they completely called off their relationship in 2004, possibly due to troubles with the media.
Jennifer Lopez ended up marrying singer Marc Anthony and Ben Affleck dated co-star Jennifer Garner for a while. Both of them later separated from their respective partners.
When asked by HuffPost Live in 2015, Lopez stated that she had no regrets about dating Affleck and that she “would do it all over again.” Well, that is exactly what happened as they broke the internet on May 2021 with Bennifer 2.0. The couple got engaged on April 2022 and later tied the knot in July.
Source: CheatSheet
