Jennifer Lopez reveals 'promise' she made to twins Max and Emme about her Ben Affleck divorce
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Jennifer Lopez has revealed the promise she made her two children following her widely-publicized split from Ben Affleck last year.
The power couple's short-lived marriage ended last year and came on the heels of JLo's film inspired by their romance, a documentary the singer financed herself that included her then-spouse, and the cancellation of her world tour, This Is Me... Live.
In an interview with El Pais, Lopez, 55, opened up about how she reassured Max and Emme, the 17-year-old twins she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony, at the height of the turmoil.
'I said, "I promise you, this is a difficult time, but you’re going to see that I’ll come out the other side stronger and better." I promised them that and I did it. And they feel it now. That gives me a great sense of peace in my life,' she said.
Now Lopez will be officially embarking on a summer tour, Up All Night: Live in 2025, where she plans to celebrate following years of growth.
'I’m happier that I’m a step further along than I was a year ago, two years ago, three years ago... I’m proud of myself for that and I’m proud that I was able to navigate my children through difficult times, that they’re stronger and better because of it. So, it’s a great time to go out there and dance and sing and have a good time with everybody,' she said with a smile.
Lopez's tour will kick off this July and will see her perform in locations such as Egypt, Spain, Italy, and more.
'This is a perfect time. And I think the last perfect time was six years ago,' she said of the tour, intentionally leaving out This Is Me... Live. 'I only want to go on tour when we’re going to celebrate. We’re going to have a good time.'
This Is Me... Live was cancelled last year, with a statement revealing the Selena star will be 'taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends.'
JLo, who the outlet noted not bring up Affleck by name, rekindled her romance with the Argo star in 2021, shortly after splitting from Alex Rodriguez.
The couple, nicknamed 'Bennifer', were first set to tie the knot decades ago before going their separate ways after postponing their wedding.
They eventually found their way back to one another during the pandemic and tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2022 followed by a more lavish ceremony shortly thereafter.
But over a year later, speculation abound that the couple were already on the outs, and Lopez ultimately filed for divorce in August 2024. The marriage was officially over a few months later.
On top of it all, Lopez had even made a movie inspired by their love story, This Is Me... Now: A Love Story, released The Greatest Love Story Never Told, a documentary about the making of the film (which included Affleck and was financed by Lopez), and was set to embark on a world tour that was subsequently cancelled.
It was a challenging time, and Lopez found herself leaning on books, spirituality, and self-reflection to overcome the pain.
'I had a really tough year,' she said with a sigh. 'Unexpected things happened. And so, I read a lot of books. I did a lot of self-introspection. I did meditation. I prayed a lot. I wanted to improve my relationship with God. I wanted to kind of really solidify the family unit that is me and my two children, my twins.'
She added: 'Listening to other people who have been through similar experiences or different experiences than you, I think that’s the thing I love most."'
Reading proved to be particularly helpful.
'I read a lot of books on childhood, marriage, relationships, different styles of love, the brain, science... And over the years, I’ve done individual therapy, couples therapy, family therapy. I’ve had everything, I’m always kind of searching,' she said.
'I think it’s all about learning about yourself. It’s all about knowing yourself. You have to be ready for that. And you have to want it. And, even when you want it, it’s hard to change certain things. But you can.'
Despite their split, Jennifer and Ben appear to be on okay terms these days.
Last month Affleck has praised Lopez for being 'spectacular' to his children.
The 52-year-old actor - who has three children, Violet, 19, Seraphina, 16, and Samuel, 13, with his first wife Jennifer Garner - still thinks highly of her.
Her children and his own kids joined him at the Los Angeles premiere of his new action film The Accountant 2 last month.
Speaking on the red carpet, Ben took a moment to praise JLo for maintaining a wonderful relationship with his kids, despite their split.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, he said: 'For the record, Jennifer Lopez is spectacular, great to my kids, great ongoing relationship with them.
'I love her kids. They're wonderful. She's [an] enormously important, tremendous person of a lot of integrity who I adore and am grateful to.
'I'm thrilled that the kids are here with me.
'The relationships that you can have with children like that, it's the joy of my life.
'And those kids are amazing, and I'm glad that this is a movie they want to come to.'
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