Love-crazed Jennifer Lopez is playing a risky game by getting into a “friends with benefits” arrangement with ex-husband Ben Affleck, and pals of the superstar are terrified she’s going to be left heartbroken once again, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Although Lopez, 56, and Affleck, 53, finalized their divorce earlier this year after splitting in 2024, the physical spark never went away, and Bennifer 3.0 is playing out much differently than their two other tries at romance.
He’s ‘Like an Addiction’
Lopez looked adoringly at then-husband Affleck on a February 2024 red carpet.
“Jen is infatuated by Ben. It’s like an addiction she has admitted she can’t break. As strong as she’s tried to be over the last few months, she can’t seem to cut him off and continues running back into his arms,” an insider claimed about the exes.
“They’ve tried to stay cordial for the sake of the kids, and now things have turned romantic again.”
Sparks flew when Lopez and Affleck had a cozy red carpet encounter at the red carpet premiere of Kiss of the Spider Woman, which starred the actress while the Oscar winner served as a producer.
While the project may have succeeded in bringing the former lovebirds back together, it tanked at the box office.
‘Strong Feelings’
Lopez released an album and documentary in February 2024 about her epic romance with Affleck.
“She’s fallen back into this bizarre place where they’re more like friends with benefits, but it’s clear there are still such strong feelings there, and Jen is doing everything she can to put walls up to protect herself from getting hurt again,” the source spilled about the Waiting for Tonight singer.
Lopez is playing it cool and casual with the new arrangement to keep herself from getting too emotionally tied up with Affleck.
“She has created a series of boundaries in what she’s calling their ‘new relationship rule book,’ which includes no sleepovers, no date nights, restricting him from dating anyone else, and banning him from texting her — given that’s when communication between them becomes toxic,” the insider revealed.
‘Only a Matter of Time’ Before Heartbreak
Lopez and Affleck secretly separated in April 2024, four months before her divorce filing.
“Friends have urged her not to get into this again, given how distraught and heartbroken she was the second time around, but Jen insists she knows what she’s doing this time. And she maintains that with her new boundaries in place, she’s the one in control and is putting a barrier up against her getting hurt again,” the source shared.
The duo first got engaged in 2002, but called off their September 2003 wedding at the last minute and broke up several months later.
Lopez reunited with her ex within weeks of calling off her engagement to Alex Rodriguez in 2021, with their “second chance at love” storyline enthralling fans.
The pair eloped to Las Vegas in July 2022, but the Maid in Manhattan star filed for divorce in August 2024 on the second anniversary of their formal Georgia wedding.
“Friends fear it’s only a matter of time before she’s left heartbroken all over again,” the insider warned about Lopez’s ongoing feelings for Affleck.
Lopez Revealed Divorce ‘Helped Me Grow’
Lopez claims she’s a ‘different person’ since divorcing Affleck.
The Enough star tried to put on a brave face in a September interview, looking back on the year she had since splitting from Affleck.
In rare comments about her failed marriage to the Argo star, Lopez made the curious revelation, “It was the best thing that ever happened to me because it changed me,” about their divorce.
She quickly clarified, “It didn’t change me. It helped me grow in a way that I needed to grow [and] become more self-aware.”
Now-single Lopez went on to explain, “I’m a different person now than I was last year, a year and a half ago.”
The actress said filming Kiss of the Spider Woman got her through the “best and the worst of times,” and had kind words for her ex, whose production company helped finance the project.
“He helped make it happen,” Lopez gushed.
