Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s decision to separate was weighed down by the exposure of intimate letters

After Jennifer Lopez, 55, announced that she had filed for divorce from Ben Affleck, 52, speculation began to surface about the “irreconcilable differences” that led to the split. One of these was the publication of letters exchanged by the couple since they began dating in 2002.

During their two-year marriage, the singer filmed a documentary called “The Affleck Greatest Love Story Never Told” to accompany the release of a new album. According to British newspaper The Mirror, in the film, J-Lo said that Ben kept all of their love letters and correspondence from when they started dating in 2002 until today.

Affleck bound the letters and put together a book to give to her in a possible reunion. And that happened in 2021. “This is a book that Ben gave me on our first Christmas together. It’s the letters and emails that we wrote to each other from 20 years ago until today,” announced the singer, who also said that she found inspiration in the intimate and loving letters for the album “‘This Is Me… Now”.

In the documentary, the footage shows Jennifer talking to the musicians and sharing the letters the actor had written, describing them as “the greatest love story never told.” Ben Affleck appears as she passes the book to one of her scene partners and is surprised.

He didn’t hold back, telling the camera, “I really found the beauty and the poetry and the irony in the fact that it’s the greatest love story ever told. If you’re making a record about that, it kind of feels like you want to tell it.” Elsewhere in the documentary, Ben reiterated how he felt after the episode: “Things that are private, I’ve always felt are sacred and special because, in part, they’re private.”

Jennifer and Ben met in early 2002, during the filming of the romantic comedy “Contact”. At the time, Lopez was married to Cris Judd, but in July of the same year, after a party where she was caught kissing Affleck, she announced her divorce. Soon after, they confirmed their romance, which ended in early 2004.

In the same year, the singer married singer Marc Anthony, with whom she has two children. The relationship lasted seven years. Affleck, on the other hand, made his union official with actress Jennifer Garner, whom he met on the set of “Pearl Harbor”, in 2005. The two are parents to three children and were married for ten years.

Ben and Jennifer have been with other people, but in May 2021 they announced their reconciliation after 17 years apart. In July 2022, they got married.