Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck 'Have PTSD' From Heavy Media Scrutiny They Endured During First Romance
Jennifer Lopez shared how age and experience improved her relationship with Ben Affleck.
Lopez spoke about her "This Is Me...Now" album and its accompanying new movie, which documents her romance with her husband. She reflected on how their separation contributed to their growth when they reunited nearly two decades after they split due to the heavy media scrutiny they endured that reportedly left them both with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"We both have PTSD," Lopez told Variety about their mental health while admitting that she has some worries about how the public would react following her decision to put their romance in the spotlight. "But we're older now. We're wiser. We also know what's important, what's really important in life, and it's not so much what other people think. It's about being true to who you are."
Despite her reluctance, Lopez decided to push through with the movie project because it was her heart's desire.
"As artists, we have to follow our heart, and this is me following my heart and doing something that maybe everybody didn't think was the best idea, but I had to do it," Lopez said.
Lopez and Affleck first dated in 2002 and got engaged in the same year. They postponed their September 2003 wedding and officially called off their engagement in 2004. They got back together 17 years later, in 2021, just months after she called off her engagement to Alex Rodriguez.
In a previous interview with People, Lopez admitted that she and Affleck were "naive" when they first dated, and when they made their romance public, it "got a little trampled." However, both have matured when they reconciled.
"We're older now, we're smarter, we have more experience, we're at different places in our lives, we have kids now, and we have to be very conscious of those things. We're so protective because it is such a beautiful time for all of us," Lopez said.
In her February 2022 magazine cover for Rolling Stone, Lopez was asked if there were chances she and Affleck would split again. The "Marry Me" actress expressed her confidence in their second shot at love.
"I don't think we would have got back together if we thought that was where it was headed," Lopez told the magazine. "We feel like what we found again is so much more important, and how we protect that and how we live our lives - what to share, what not to share - is the balance that we have now, the benefit of experience and the wisdom that we gained over the years."
Affleck proposed to Lopez for the second time on April 2, 2022, while she was in a bathtub. The celebrity couple tied the knot in a secret wedding in Las Vegas on July 16, 2022. They wed again with their friends and family around at his home in Riceboro, Georgia, a month later.
