Jennifer Lopez opened up about the immense growth she’s worked through in the past couple of years since her splashy divorce from Ben Affleck.
The “Jenny From the Block” singer opened up about her journey on the recent episode of the “SmartLess” podcast with Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes.
Lopez and Affleck filed for divorce in August 2024. By: Thecelebrityfinder/MEGA
“The past five years has been a tumult, you know, and then the last two years has been kind of the healing process from that tumult where I really got to know myself and the person I am today is so different than the person I was even two years ago,” Lopez explained to the three hosts. “It’s crazy. And now I can really look at my life, appreciate it for what it is and what I’ve created for myself and be really happy.”
Lopez pointed to several accomplishments she is especially proud of, including her children earning college scholarships and the fact that she has raised them largely on her own. In highlighting what she described as receiving “very little help” along the way, some interpreted the remark as a subtle jab at her ex-husband and the twins’ father, Marc Anthony.
One of the hosts went on to praise Lopez for embracing personal growth, despite working in what they described as the “permissive” world of show business, where many people can avoid taking a hard look at their own behavior and choices.
Jennifer Lopez examined her part in things after the split. By: ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
“There’s been different times where I felt like, whether people outside knew it or not, where I feel like my life blew up in my own face, and it was because of the choices I made,” the Hustlers actress explained. “But also because of the fact that I had things that needed to change about myself that I didn’t understand or recognize that was attracting certain things and attracting a certain type of experience into my life.”
That kind of growth journey “is a choice,” she said.
She opened up about her journey on a podcast. By: Netflix/YouTube
She went on to directly mention her split from Affleck. “After my last divorce, I just sat there, and I was like, I canceled my tour, and I sat there, and I was just like, you need to f****** figure yourself out,” she said. “What is going on with you? Forget about everybody else. There’s nobody to blame here except yourself in a certain way. Not that people don’t behave in a way that’s not great, but what are you doing? What do you have going on? And that was a turning point for me. And that was a couple of years ago now.”
Affleck and Lopez made headlines for years when they got back together in 2021, 17 years after they had originally broken their engagement. This time around, the relationship moved even faster, with the pair getting engaged in 2022 and married just a couple of months later, as reported by People.
They filed for divorce in August 2024, after months of speculation.
Lopez is on a press tour promoting ‘Office Romance.’ By: Netflix/YouTube
Lopez has had what seems like a string of bad luck in love, having been engaged a whopping six times and married four. She was previously married to Ojani Noa between 1997 and 1998, to Cris Judd between 2001 and 2003, Anthony from 2004 to 2014, and then Affleck. She was also in a long-term relationship with Alex Rodriguez between 2017 and 2021.
Right now, the star is promoting her new Netflix rom-com with Brett Goldstein, Office Romance.