Newlyweds J-Lo and Ben Affleck have another round of wedding celebrations planned this weekend, and one very special name was reportedly on the guest list. Of course, it’s Jennifer Garner, Ben’s ex!
But it seems as though Garner turned down the offer and her reason for doing so has just come to light…
J-Lo and Ben Affleck are due to hold their second wedding this weekend.
But one guest won’t be there, and it’s all anyone can talk about right now…
Scroll down for the full story.
There’s no denying, that the Bennifer engagement is the biggest celebrity relationship news in months — if not years.
It seems we’ve come full circle — and we’ve never seen J-Lo this happy…
And now, it’s been announced that they have finally got married.
But fans aren’t too impressed with their big day.
Now, alongside her singing, acting, dancing, and modeling, there’s another reason that J-Lo is a household name…
Alongside her impressive career, J-Lo is also famed for a string of high-profile relationships. Her first was Cuban waiter, Ojani Noa, to whom she was married between 1997 and 1998. The pair had one of the very first messy celebrity divorces that have now become a staple of celebrity culture – so we have a lot to thank them for!
Then J-Lo began dating Sean Combs (better known as P-Diddy) in 1999 and gave us this incredible Grammys look that same year.
Internet urban legend claims that this dress was the reason for the invention of Google Images.
After all that drama, she enjoyed a brief dalliance with former backup dancer, Chris Judd.
In fact, the pair enjoyed another whirlwind marriage between 2001 and 2002.
A year later, Ben Affleck came into the picture…
The pair shared one of the very first celebrity couple names — Bennifer. Although the pair were set to marry in 2003, they ended up postponing their wedding just a day before, eventually splitting in January 2004.
However, they’re now rekindling their old flame…
But more on that after we get up to speed with J-Lo’s relationship timeline…
Very quickly after breaking up with Affleck, J-Lo began dating her childhood friend, Marc Anthony.
So quickly, in fact, that the two (yet again) married in June of the very same year.
J-Lo then became a mom!
J-Lo and Anthony’s twins were born in Long Island on February 22nd, 2008. The kids are called Emme Maribel and Maximilian David.
3 years later, though, Anthony filed for divorce.
Between 2011 and 2016, J-Lo had an on-again-off-again relationship with another former backup dancer, Casper Smart.
But that casual fling was quickly put to an end in 2017 when New York Yankees baseball player, Alex Rodriguez came into the picture.
From the get-go, it seemed like things were going very well between the loved-up pair.
They were even engaged to be married!
The pair appeared to be happier than ever…
But then news emerged that they had sadly “broken up.”
Headlines across the globe claimed the pair had gone their separate ways.
Calling off their 2-year engagement.
And, on April 15th 2021, the pair announced that they had, in fact, broken up.
In a joint statement, the pair said: “We have realized we are better as friends and look forward to remaining so. We will continue to work together and support each other on our shared businesses and projects. We wish the best for each other and one another’s children. Out of respect for them, the only other comment we have to say is thank you to everyone who has sent kind words and support.”
Of course, we were all heartbroken about the news.
But not for very long, between then and now, J-Lo has rekindled with her previous ex… Ben Affleck!
They were spotted taking a week-long vacation together last year…
And “Bennifer” fans have been ecstatic over the reunion.
A source close to them revealed that initially after the breakup, the pair were “just friends.”
But E! News reported that the status had been updated.
A second source told the outlet:
“They have been in touch here and there throughout the years. Ben reached out to her to see how she was doing and they had dinner together a few times within this last month. It’s natural between them and the chemistry is unreal. They picked up where they last left off and are enjoying each other’s company right now.”
And just a year after they were first spotted together, the pair were officially engaged…
It came eighteen years after the pair were originally planning on getting hitched.
Back in February, J-Lo opened up about her relationship with Affleck this time around to People, she said: “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.”
“It’s a beautiful outcome that this has happened in this way at this time in our lives where we can really appreciate and celebrate each other and respect each other,” J-Lo continued. “We always did, but we have even more of an appreciation because we know that life can take you in different directions.”
J-Lo and Affleck were also spotted house hunting recently before settling on a $55 million Bel-Air home…
It’s a whopping 20,000 sq ft. featuring 10 bedrooms and seventeen bathrooms, and of course, a pool.
J-Lo shared the incredible news of her engagement in her newsletter on Friday, revealing her ring in the video, with the voiceover: “You’re perfect.”
Just days earlier, her sister Lynda took to Instagram to share a photo of her ring on her Story, congratulating the pair.
She later shared that the proposal was the most “romantic thing” ever.
And she did so by writing in the JLO Newsletter.
“Did you ever imagine your biggest dream could come true?” Lopez began in the newsletter, as per PEOPLE.
“Saturday night while at my favorite place on earth (in the bubble bath), my beautiful love got on one knee and proposed,” she continued writing.
“I was taken totally off guard and just looked in his eyes smiling and crying at the same time trying hard to get my head around the fact that after 20 years this was happening all over again, I was quite literally speechless and he said, ‘is that a yes?’ I said YES of course that’s a YES.
“I was smiling so big and tears were coming down my face, feeling so incredibly happy and whole.
“It was nothing fancy at all, but it was the most romantic thing I could’ve ever imagined… just a quiet Saturday night at home, two people promising to always be there for each other,” she wrote.
And then she finished by saying that they are: “Two very lucky people. Who got a second chance at true love.”
And now, the loved-up pair have finally tied the knot…
According to TMZ, who obtained a marriage license with their names on it, the couple tied the knot on Sunday, July 17.
A source close to the pair added: ‘They did, indeed, get hitched and the license is a signal they are now man and wife.”
However, since fans have got a glimpse of her dress, many are saying it’s the “ugliest” dress they’ve ever seen.
Fans have taken to Instagram, where a video of J-Lo in her wedding dress was shared by chrisappleton1, her hairstylist.
He captioned the post: “Last minute feelings before the wedding.”
People were quick to share their thoughts on her dress.
Sadly, it wasn’t a positive reaction.
One Instagram user wrote: “I did not think her dress would be so simple!!!”
While another wrote: “That dress is so underwhelming.”
“UGLIEST DRESS EVER !!” a third wrote.
Another echoed: “Hope that’s not the dress.” A fifth said: “She looks like she’s ready for her first communion.”
And it seems her dress wasn’t the only thing that got people talking.
J-Lo recently announced that she has legally changed her name following the union.
Responding to the news, one fan wrote on Twitter: “Why would she change her name? Why would they get married if they don’t have kids together? What’s the point other than attention?”
“Do we call her ‘JAff’ now?” another questioned.
In an email to her followers, J-Lo wrote: “Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient.”
She added: “Stick around long enough and maybe you’ll find the best moment of your life in a drive-through in Las Vegas at 12:30 in the morning in the tunnel of love drive-through with your kids and the one you’ll spend forever with.”
According to the court records, the pair used their legal names Benjamin Geza Affleck and Jennifer Lynn Lopez on their marriage certificate.
And as per J-Lo’s newsletter, it seems the star has in fact changed her name to: Jennifer Lynn Affleck.
The hosts of Australian breakfast program Today Extra were surprised when they learnt that J-Lo had changed her famous surname…
They didn’t stop at just the name change, they went on to comment that it was her “fourth marriage.”
“This is her fourth marriage,” said television star Shelly Horton, who was a guest on the show.
Shell-shocked at J-Lo’s swift move to change her famous surname, Horton didn’t hold back from confessing her opinion further.
But it didn’t stop just there, as Horton continued to express that it’s shocking to see women change their name after marriage…
Especially when “sometimes it doesn’t work out.”
Was that an indirect jibe?
“You know sometimes it doesn’t work out. I think it’s crazy that people change their name,” Horton said.
And things certainly took a turn when sports reporter Ben Fordham agreed with her.
“Women don’t need to give up their identity just because they get married,” he said.
But what caught our attention was the fact he labeled the ‘Jenny From the Block’ singer “a brand.”
And if you thought that was candid…
Fordham also said that “it was J-Lo’s choice” at the end of the day and so people should accept that.
“What about respecting women and their own choices,” he added.
But what was surprising was that host David Campbell was also in favor of the star changing her name and slammed his guest.
“I was happy for her, why can’t you be happy for her? She’s a woman making her own choices. Shelly, because you are wearing glasses, it doesn’t make you smart,” he said.
And they were equally surprised at J-Lo’s middle name too.
“She is Jennifer Lynn Affleck, Lynn is not what I expected in the middle name!” Campbell said.
Host Sylvia Jeffries could also not believe it as well.
“No, no!” said the co-host quite shocked…
A short time after their marriage, J-Lo’s first husband shared his prediction for their union.
Forty-eight-year-old, Ojani Noa, claims Lopez “loves being in love,” but quickly loses interest when the initial spark dies.
According to The Daily Mail, Noa shared: “Ben is husband number four. I was husband number one and she told me I was the love of her life. When we lay in bed on our wedding night, she said we would be together forever.”
Talking about his first meeting with the star, he revealed he had met her while working at Gloria Estefan’s Ocean Drive restaurant Lario’s On The Beach when he was twenty-two.
“Miami was buzzing. I did some modeling. I hustled. I wanted the American dream – and I found it when Jen walked into Lario’s,” he reportedly said. “I had no idea who she was. Our eyes glanced at each other and I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.”
Lopez allegedly came into the restaurant the day after and “I was smitten,” Noa said.
“She was wearing a white top and trousers, and I remember thinking she had the best body I’d ever seen. She later told me she knew that first night she was going to marry me,” Noa reportedly recalled.
After their second meeting, the pair decided to hit the clubs together with some friends.
“When we got to the club my friend Leo took Jen to the dance floor, and I thought, ‘Oh man, you’re a lucky guy.’ Then [her friend] said, ‘When they get back, take Jen out there. It’s you she’s interested in.’
“They get back and I take her hand and lead her onto the floor, and a slow song comes on. It was electric. She was shaking and said, ‘You make me nervous.’
“We could both feel the romantic energy. It was instant and intense. Like it was surging through our bodies. I said, ‘I feel the same way you’re feeling.’ I lifted her chin and gave her a kiss – it was a kiss like we’d known each other forever.”
After dating for some time, and J-Lo introducing Noa to her life as a celebrity, they later married, but things quickly went downhill…
Despite their divorce, Noa said he feels that things could have worked out for him and “Jenny From The Block” if not for the “parasites who feed off celebrities” and the media branding him a “penniless waiter.”
Speaking about the recent Bennifer wedding, Noa said: “I wish her and Ben the best, but I’m not convinced it will last.”
“I think she’s someone who will be married seven or eight times. I can’t see her ever settling down with one person. She pushes herself to constantly go forward in her professional life, which is why she’s had a three-decade career, but she also moves on in her private life.”
He added: “If Ben has Lupe on his side then maybe he’s got a chance.”
But Noa isn’t the only one of J-Lo’s exes to speak out.
It seems all of her past boyfriends have positive comments about the star.
Sean “Diddy” Combs told PEOPLE in 2006 about their relationship: “She was one of my girlfriends, and the most highly publicized one. But I’ve been blessed to go out with a couple of great women, and she was one of the great ones.” Despite things turning sour between the 2, it looks like there are no hard feelings.
Ex Cris Judd also opened up about his time with Lopez, admitting to Us Weekly in 2014: “I can’t give you the answer as to why her relationships don’t work. I think that it’s that it is work. It’s whether you want to work on it or not. … When you sign up to get married, you can’t just walk away.”
Marc Anthony also holds no ill will towards his ex, revealing in an InStyle interview last year: “She’s the first one in the room and the last one to leave. The hardest worker I’ve ever met. When we were together, it was quite the opposite for me. That has changed since. I learned so much from her.”
Casper Smart shared to Hola! that at the time of their relationship “I was very young and selfish. I thought I was ready for a relationship with a woman with kids and everything,” later telling Us Weekly in 2017, “Jennifer is, like, phenomenal, phenomenal, phenomenal.”
Even Alex Rodriguez told ET: “I had five years of an incredible life and partnership and also with my daughters, we learned so much. And now we have the opportunity to take that and move forward and say, ‘You know what? We’re so grateful for the last five years, how do we make the next five years better because of lessons learned?'”
So it looks like none of them regret their time with J-Lo.
Aside from that, everyone wants to know what the newlyweds are up to now…
The couple recently decided to grab lunch with their kids at Huckleberry Café.
But what caught our attention was the extreme PDA!
During that particular outing, Lopez was spotted lovingly scratching Affleck’s head, Page Six reports.
While the actor’s daughter, Violet, tried to get her dad’s full fledge attention.
They were also accompanied by the Lopez’s twins, Emme Maribel and Maximilian David, as well as Affleck’s youngest son Samuel.
Following their quick lunch, the family stopped to grab a few treats from Dunkin’…
Because who wouldn’t?
And the couple shared a sweet kiss as they came out of the store with their goodies…
So it seems the couple is doing well, despite Affleck leaving their honeymoon early.
The heartbreaking reason that he left was later revealed.
It’s no secret the pair have been followed relentlessly by paparazzi on their honeymoon in Paris.
And it seems that Affleck was understandably “freaked out” by the media swarm.
A source went as far as to tell Page Six it was “almost Princess Diana-level.”
“Ben was a little freaked out in Paris,” the source claimed.
“This was a whole new level.”
Affleck’s outburst might have had something to do with the fact they split in 2004 due, partly, to overbearing paparazzi.
“Ben is used to the flashing lights,” the Page Six source said. “But he felt that the honeymoon was a tsunami. Jen’s made out of steel and knows it comes with the territory [but] he still gets p*ssed off.”
They added that the honeymoon “reminded him too much of the first time he and the singer tried to get married.”
And, now, just weeks after that whole ordeal, the couple has had more stress to deal with.
The pair are set to have their second wedding ceremony this weekend.
The couple planned to tie the knot at Ben Affleck’s estate in Riceboro, Georgia.
But, just as guests began to arrive at the property, disaster struck.
The Daily Mail reported that an ambulance, sometimes reaching over 120 mph, sped to the Riceboro property at around noon yesterday.
It headed to the Liberty County Medical Center.
A source reportedly told the news outlet that Affleck’s mom fell off a dock and cut her leg at the property.
Affleck reportedly found her and called the ambulance.
We hope she’s okay and that the wedding celebrations go ahead to celebrate this beautiful pair!
But one person who won’t be there celebrating the couple this weekend is Affleck’s ex, Jennifer Garner.
Garner was reportedly invited to this weekend’s festivities but turned down the offer.
This is despite the fact that Affleck and Garner’s 3 children will be there.
The star reportedly said no because she has a work commitment in Texas