Their new normal. Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Garner have shared subtle details about their dynamic amid their respective relationships with Ben Affleck.
Affleck and Garner initially met on the set of Pearl Harbor in 2001 and reconnected three years later. The pair exchanged vows in June 2005, welcoming daughter Violet six months later. The Alias alum later gave birth to daughter Seraphina in 2009 and son Samuel in 2012.
Following a decade of marriage, Affleck and Garner announced their decision to part ways. “After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce,” they said in a joint statement in 2015. “We go forward with love and friendship for one another and a commitment to coparenting our children whose privacy we ask to be respected during this difficult time. This will be our only comment on this private, family matter. Thank you for understanding.”
A source later exclusively told Us Weekly that coparenting has always been “a work in progress” for Affleck and Garner. “Things come up between them, but they are committed to doing the best they can for the kids,” the insider revealed in March 2020, two years after their divorce was finalized. “They stay on top of things and have a lot of meetings and check-ins. They want to be the best parents they can for the kids. If they have differences, they keep it to themselves and don’t let it have an impact. They always put on happy faces for the kids and put their well-being first.”
The Argo director, who was previously engaged to Lopez from 2002 to 2004, rekindled his romance with the singer in early 2021 following her split from fiancé Alex Rodriguez. A source exclusively told Us at the time that Garner and Lopez were amicable amid the Hustlers star’s relationship with Affleck.
“J. Lo has Jennifer Garner’s seal of approval,” the insider exclusively revealed in June 2021. “J. Lo thinks Jennifer is a kind and wonderful person and an amazing mother.”
As the duo’s romance continued to blossom Garner appeared to be on friendly terms with Lopez and Affleck during several group outings with their blended families — including a trick-or-treat trip in October 2021. (The New York native welcomed twins Max and Emme in 2008 with now-ex-husband Marc Anthony.)
In April 2022, Lopez revealed that Affleck proposed for a second time 20 years after their first engagement. “Saturday night while at my favorite place on earth (in the bubble bath), my beautiful love got on one knee and proposed,” the Marry Me actress wrote via her newsletter at the time. “I was taken totally off guard and just looked in his eyes smiling and crying at the same time.”
The twosome wasted no time tying the knot, getting married in Las Vegas just three months later. They celebrated their love story again with a larger wedding ceremony in August 2022.
As the family adjusted to their new dynamic, Lopez and Garner remained focused on strengthening their friendship. “Now that Jen and Jen have been coparenting, they’ve been getting to know each other better and have formed a very new friendship,” an insider shared with Us in November 2022, noting that Garner “can’t believe how sweet” Lopez is to her kids. “They really enjoy each other.”
Scroll down for a breakdown of Garner and Lopez’s bond:
