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Ben Affleck is speaking out against those who were mean to his ex, former American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez, during their relationship, which ended more than 15 years ago.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s Chatter podcast, Affleck shared, “There is always a story of the month… Me dating Jennifer Lopez happened to be that tabloid story at the time when that business grew exponentially. When they realized there’s actually a 10 times bigger audience for our product than we are selling to.”
He said the coverage was incessant. “At first it was an infatuation, what an interesting couple. “And then there was a ton of resentment— ton of resentment against me, a ton of resentment against Jennifer.”
He continued, “People were so f–king mean about her: sexist, racist, ugly vicious s–t was written about her in ways that if you wrote it now, you would literally be fired for saying those things.”
Affleck stated that now, Lopez is respected for what she has accomplished, and she “f–king should be.”
Asked about paparazzi in general, Affleck said that certain things are simply out of his control. “To this day, people will go, ‘I see you out there with the paparazzi.’ Yes, I left my house and took out the trash.”
Alex Rodriguez & Jennifer Lopez
While she isn’t dating Ben Affleck any longer, Lopez is still in an extremely high-profile relationship that is the subject of many tabloids and headlines.
The 51-year-old has been dating Alex Rodriguez since 2017. Due to the pandemic, the pair have had to postpone their wedding twice. They even considered, at one point, calling the wedding off altogether.
While speaking on SiriusXM Radio Andy, Lopez recently shared, “We’ve talked about that for sure. I mean, at our age, we’ve both been married before, it’s like, do we get married? Do we not? What does it mean for us?”
Over time, however, the two decided that they do want to get married, though they do not know when that will be.
Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas
Affleck and his girlfriend, actress Ana de Armas, have also been on the front of countless magazines. According to Harpers Bazaar, the couple officially moved in together in December 2020 after spending a majority of the pandemic quarantining together.
They initially met after co-starring in the film Deep Water. Not long after, they vacationed together in Cuba, before showing off some PDA in public spots.
And while Nicki Swift is reporting that there has been “trouble in paradise” for the couple since moving in together, neither has yet to publicly comment on it.
A source recently told the outlet, “Ana rocketed to stardom since dating Ben and has a bunch of movies lined up. She’s young, ambitious and her career will always come first. While Ben wants her to succeed, he’s needy and feels lost and lonely when she’s off gallivanting the world without him.”
A separate source told In Touch, “The honeymoon phase is over for Ana and Ben.”
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