Throwing it back to Bennifer 1.0! Jennifer Lopez posted a clip from her 2002 “Jenny From the Block” music video over the weekend, and fans swooned over the shots of her with then-boyfriend Ben Affleck.
“This was the first video and single off my album ‘This Is Me…Then,’” the 49-year-old wrote in her Instagram caption on Sunday, August 19, as she hyped up her MTV VMAs Video Vanguard performance. “It was probably my most personal album ever…and honestly my favorite album I’ve done so far…I just loved the sound of it and the sentiments.”
Lopez elaborated: “At that time I truly realized that being an artist meant you have to be vulnerable and bare your heart and soul…it takes courage to do that…to really show who you are at any given moment in time…and this was me then… completely. And one of the things that was important for me to remind everyone of in that moment was who I am and who I will always be…don’t be fooled by the rocks that I got I’m still I’m still…JENNY FROM THE BLOCK.”
The “A.K.A.” singer added the hashtags “#nomatterwhereIgoIknowwhereIcamefrom #VMAs #videovanguard #thisismenow #humbledandgrateful.”
Affleck, now 46, doesn’t remember the experience so fondly. “If I have a regret, it was doing the music video,” the Justice League actor told the Daily Record in 2008. “But that happened years ago. I’ve moved on.”
After Lopez posted the clip on Sunday, plenty of fans waxed nostalgic over the failed 2002–2004 relationship. The couple had even intended to marry but called off their September 2003 wedding with four days’ notice.
“Jlo ♡ Ben,” one fan commented on the Instagram post.
“I wish you and Ben never broke up and had the fairytale ending,” said another.
These days, Lopez is dating Alex Rodriguez, while Affleck — still navigating his divorce from Jennifer Garner after 13 years of marriage — was recently spotted at a dinner date with Playboy model Shauna Sexton.
The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards will air on MTV on Monday, August 20, at 9 p.m. ET.
