Ben Affleck Shares What Was '50 Percent' Responsible for His 2004 Split With Jennifer Lopez

Ben Affleck admits that the negative media attention put a strain on his first relationship with Jennifer Lopez. 

"I would say it was about 50 percent [of what destroyed our relationship]. The idea that people hate you and they hate you together and that being together is poison and ugly and toxic and the thing none of us want to be part of,” the Tender Bar actor said on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show. “And who the f**k would want to have them to dinner? And what the f**k are they doing together?’”  

Affleck, 49, and Lopez, 52, began dating in 2002, became engaged in 2003 and called off their engagement in 2004. The pair rekindled their romance earlier this year following Lopez's decision to end her engagement to Alex Rodriguez.  

Speaking candidly about their initial split, Affleck admitted, "I got f**king hurt and angry and felt like a fool.”

When it came to getting back together, Affleck revealed that he did feel some hesitation about starting their romance over again -- simply because he was looking out for his three children. 

“Well, look, my responsibility to my children is the highest responsibility I have. So I won't do anything that's painful or destructive to them if I can help it,” he said, referencing his children, Seraphina, Violet and Samuel, whom he shares with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. 

“That being said, I know that my life affects them. I dropped my son off at school two days ago, and he's the only one who will talk about it. He's nine years old and there's a bunch of the older boys out there doing some toy drive or something, and I heard them go, 'Oh Ben Affleck, Ben Affleck.' And my kid looks at me and goes, '#WelcomeToMyLife.'” 

In the same interview, Affleck got candid about what led to the end of his marriage with Garner in 2018. "The truth was, we took our time, we made a decision, we grew apart. We had a marriage that did not work. This happens," he said. "It is somebody I love and respect, but to whom I should not be married any longer." 

"And then we said, 'You know what? We tried. We tried, because we had kids,'" Affleck added. "And then both of us felt like, 'We don't want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage.'" 

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