Ben Affleck is opening up about his personal life and about his split with Jennifer Lopez.
More than three months following the Good Will Hunting actor and Jennifer Lopez’s divorce settlement, he addressed their two-year marriage’s conclusion—which came after their initial mid-2000s engagement and split before reuniting in 2021.
“There’s a tendency to look at breakups and want to identify root causes or something,” Ben explained to GQ in an interview published March 25. “The truth is much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting.”
While acknowledging that he and the Maid in Manhattan actress had differing views on fame, he emphasized about their separation, “There’s no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue.”
The 52-year-old—who co-parents children Violet, 19, Seraphina, 16, and Samuel, 13, with former spouse Jennifer Garner—elaborated on a viral moment from Jennifer’s The Greatest Love Story Never Told, where he drew a comparison about their contrasting views on celebrity life saying, “you don’t marry a ship captain and say you don’t like water.”
As he told GQ, “As happens in relationships, you don’t always have the same attitude towards these things.”
Though Ben maintained his documentary statements, he clarified that their divergent approaches to fame weren’t the cause of their divorce.
“You’ve got to own what you knew going into any relationship,” he continued. “I think it’s important to say that wasn’t the cause of some major fracture. It’s not like you can watch that documentary and go, ‘Oh, now I understand the issues that these two had.'”
Following his discussion about his relationship with the “Waiting for Tonight” performer, Ben expressed genuine respect for his former partner, particularly regarding her comfort with public attention.
“This is somebody I have a lot of respect for,” he explained. “And I get wanting to divine or explore the kind of differences in perspective that we have in terms of how a person feels comfortable approaching the line between public and private life.”
He emphasized having no negative feelings about J.Lo’s embrace of fame, stating he holds “any negativity or judgment or anything regarding that.”
Regarding their separation’s cause? Ben indicated it’s complex, and he’s choosing to keep details private.
“The reason I don’t want to share that is just sort of embarrassing,” he added. “It feels vulnerable.”
