Ben Affleck Has Finally Addressed the 'Greatest Love Story Never Told'
On Tuesday, GQ unveiled Ben Affleck as its latest cover star. If you can look past the seventies-era spread that has the actor cosplaying as a stylish, cigarette-puffing visionary, rather than the Dunkin’-swilling divorced guy he actually is, you’ll find a shockingly candid sit-down about his latest split from Jennifer Lopez.
If trying to keep pace with the dizzying deluge of celebrities’ love lives isn’t your thing, congratulations. But, even if it isn’t, you likely already know that, as of February, Affleck and Lopez are officially divorced. And you also probably know that their whirlwind reunion was sadly documented in Lopez’s flop film The Greatest Love Story Never Told, a companion album, and a documentary chronicling the creation of the album
Before their split in August 2024, speculation that things were not good with the then-newlyweds had circled for months, thanks to a lot of separate outings and sad-looking faces (not that those are anything new in Affleck’s case). At the time, sources told People that Affleck hadn’t “shown any commitment and interest in making their marriage work.” Now, after relative silence on the divorce, he’s speaking for himself. And apparently, it’s not that serious.
“There’s a tendency to look at breakups and want to identify root causes or something. But honestly…the truth is much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting,” Affleck told GQ. “There’s no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue. The truth is, when you talk to somebody, ‘Hey, what happened?’ Well, there is no, ‘This is what happened.'”
“It’s just a story about people trying to figure out their lives and relationships in ways that we all sort of normally do,” Affleck tacked on. Fair enough! When asked about the media’s incessant invasions of privacy during his relationship with Lopez, Affleck’s answers got a little more interesting.
Anyone who has seen the documentary about the making of The Greatest Love Story Never Told knows Affleck weighed in on the film’s production, specifically how much of his private relationship with Lopez should be included and, by virtue, become public fodder. According to Affleck, the couple had differing opinions and capabilities where managing fame was concerned. While Lopez “handled celebrity more adeptly and more adroitly,” Affleck is “reserved.” Regardless, it sounds like he conceded.
“As happens in relationships, you don’t always have the same attitude towards these things,” Affleck said. “And so I thought, Oh, this is interesting because how do you reconcile that? Because…I love and support this person. I believe in them. They’re great. I want people to see that.”
Affleck then deployed a maritime metaphor to explain navigating a relationship with someone who, for better and for worse, is really good at being a famous person.
“You don’t marry a ship captain and then say, ‘Well, I don’t like going out in the water,'” Affleck said. “You’ve got to own what you knew going into any relationship. And I think it’s important to say that wasn’t the cause of some major fracture. It’s not like you can watch that documentary and go, ‘Oh, now I understand the issues that these two had.'”
That may be so, but Lopez’s self-funded dedication to their decades-spanning romance did attract an onslaught of criticism for other reasons. The Guardian gave the film two stars and called it a “bombastic ode to love and herself,” while Empire said it was “a frequently insane fantasy trip.” And that’s not even the worst of it. A critic from The Standard simply asked: “What the hell did I just watch?” As for the album, Page Six wrote: “To put it bluntly, it’s as watery as the iced coffee Affleck picks up from Dunkin’ every morning.” Surely, that had to hurt.
Further in the conversation, Affleck reiterates that he has respect for Lopez and talks about how much time he’s spent thinking about how to game the tabloid system so that his relatively “drama-free” life is actually presented as such.
“Naturally you go, like, ‘Okay, maybe I’ll just wear the same outfit every single day, so the pictures won’t be distinguishable.’ Or maybe: ‘I’ll just look like a slob,’ and I’m like, nope—then you become the sad Affleck meme spilling the coffee. Which I have to say I think is kind of funny.”
Kudos to Affleck’s self-awareness, I guess!