Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck secretly split earlier this year but continued to kept up appearances as if they were still a couple for several months.
The pair were spotted on a number of public outings together, including their very last one on June 2, after they had already decided to go their separate ways two months earlier.
At the time, they were seen greeting each other warmly, even appearing to give each other a kiss, as they attended Affleck’s 12-year-old son Samuel’s basketball game in Santa Monica.
Lopez and Affleck also appeared to be in high spirits while leaving together even though, as it is now revealed, they had already secretly called it off on April 26.
The revelation comes after Lopez officially filed for divorce from Affleck on Tuesday, August 20 — which is perhaps not-so-coincidentally the second anniversary of their second wedding ceremony.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were last pictured together on June 2 in a public display of unity — even though they had secretly split months earlier, according to the divorce filing which states the date of separation as April 26
They even shared a kiss for the cameras as they attended Affleck’s 12-year-old son Samuel’s basketball game in Santa Monica
The couple first sparked separation rumors when they had gone 47 days without being seen together.
Split speculation continued as they did not spend a number of holidays over the summer together and Lopez also walked the red carpet alone at the Met Gala in May — which was also when Lopez called off her world tour ‘to be with her family.’
Since then, the pair have been spending summers on opposite coasts and did not spend their anniversary together.
In recent months, however, the pair have been spotted out together on a handful of occasions — but notably all were when Affleck’s kids were present — as they had reportedly been trying to rekindle their romance.
After being noticed without their wedding rings on several outings, they also started making it apparent that they were once again wearing their tokens of commitment.
Lopez was even seen paying Affleck a special visit on his birthday at his rental property in Brentwood, California.
The shocking divorce filing comes after they were seen stepping out together — and even occasionally putting on PDA several times — in an effort to maintain that they were reconciling in spite of being incessantly hounded by rumors of marital strife.
However, the public was largely unaware that they had already separated in secrecy on April 26, which is listed as their official date of separation on Lopez’s divorce filing.
Lopez and Affleck also appeared to be in high spirits while leaving together even though, as it is now revealed, they had already secretly called it off back in April
On April 26, which is listed as their official date of separation, Lopez was seen here on a solo outing in New York City
In the weeks prior to their secret split, the pair had been putting on PDA during their outings in late March and being very affectionate while house hunting together in New York City.
After celebrating Easter together in Brooklyn, Affleck returned to sunny California to film The Accountant 2.
In the following weeks, Lopez spend a majority of her time in New York City, but it appears that’s when the cracks started showing in their marriage as they would not be pictured together for over a month.
Just days prior to their secret split in mid-April, Lopez met up with Affleck’s best friend and business partner Matt Damon and his wife.
In the following weeks, Affleck skipped out on a number of his wife’s gigs in May including the premiere of her Netflix movie Atlas as well as her major role as a co-chair at the Met Gala.
After sparking speculation of turmoil in their marriage and spending 47 days apart, they seemingly started to make a show of unity and going on public outings together.
On May 16, the couple finally reunited at Affleck’s second child Fin’s recital in Los Angeles; and in the following days, they were seen together again at another family event, during which Affleck revealed he still had her saved in his phone as ‘Jennifer Affleck’ alongside a sexy contact photo.
Two weeks later, they were spotted arriving at Affleck’s eldest daughter Violet’s graduation party together, but there was a noticeable sense of tension.
After being noticed without their wedding rings on several outings, they also started making it apparent that they were once again wearing their tokens of commitment. After 47 days of not being seen together, they made a statement as they reunited in public at Fin’s recital in Los Angeles on May 16
Even after their split, they continued tried to appear affectionate and were even seen holding hands at Affleck’s daughter Violet’s high school graduation on May 30
Just the following day, they put on a rare display of PDA and were spotted holding hands while attending Violet’s high school graduation.
They were also spotted, seemingly in good spirits, at Affleck’s son Samuel’s basketball game in Santa Monica on June 2 — which was the last day they were pictured together in public.
Even though it appeared as if they had reconciled, it appears they were maintaining a pretense as they hired a realtor to put their marital home up for sale just a week later.
Around the same time, it was reported that Affleck had already moved out of their mansion, which they purchased together just a year ago after a two-year hunt for their ‘dream home.’
Perhaps not for any reason besides to work out divvying up their assets, Lopez was seen paying Affleck a visit at his Brentwood rental home on June 15.
She even wished him a happy Father’s Day on social media the following day, calling him a ‘hero,’ even though he opted to spend the holiday with his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner.
Afterwards, Lopez attempted to shake off the heartache as she ventured on a solo jaunt across Europe in late June — even recreating her very PDA-filled 2021 holiday with her estranged husband and dining at the same restaurant where they shared heated kisses.
Meanwhile, he was in Los Angeles and going on outings without his wedding ring on his finger.
On May 19, the pair got together for another family event in spite of their secret separation and ongoing divorce speculation online
After being noticed without their wedding rings on several outings, they also started making it apparent that they were once again wearing their tokens of commitment; seen on May 3
Even during their time apart, including the 47 days after their last jaunt in New York City and Lopez’s solo red carpet walk at the Met Gala in May, the actress made sure to keep flashing the diamond Affleck proposed to her with; seen on May 6
In early July, it was reported that Affleck had started moving out the rest of his belongings from their shared home and they began the process of selling their artwork in the $60 million mansion.
In the following weeks, the couple spent the majority of their summer and even Fourth of July on separate coasts with Affleck in Los Angeles and Lopez in the Hamptons.
As they spent miles apart, both literally and figuratively, it was reported that their kids were working behind the scenes to try to get them back together ahead of Lopez’s 55th birthday.
However, their efforts would seemingly prove futile in the end as Lopez made a bold statement by replacing her ‘Ben’ necklace with her own name during one of her Hamptons outings to the gym in July.
During that excursion on July 19, however, she still kept her wedding ring on, and it was reported that the pair were secretly working on reconciling their romance.
The revelation comes after Lopez officially filed for divorce from Affleck on Tuesday, August 20 — which is perhaps not-so-coincidentally the second anniversary of their second wedding ceremony
It was reported that the pair were writing love letters, ones they intended to keep private this time, as that was how their romance began initially.
However, it was then when it seemingly fell apart again when Affleck ‘humiliated’ Lopez on her birthday by not only skipping out on her lavish celebration in the Hamptons but also choosing that day to sign the deed to his bachelor pad.
Afterwards, sources revealed that they had finalized their divorce papers but Affleck was putting it off on filing.
In the following weeks, the Jenny from the Block singer continued to wear her wedding ring — even once moving it to her other hand and removing the wedding band but still wearing it— and was seemingly not giving up hope completely.
After her birthday on July 24, they had not been seen together in public for 52 days; and August 2 marked two sad months of the pair not having been pictured together.
After it was reported that the pair had stopped talking to each other on August 5, the pair seemingly tried to remedy that.
On August 12, Lopez went shopping with Affleck’s son Samuel and was reportedly a surprise visitor as she went inside while dropping him off.
Three days later, she quietly visited Affleck’s rental home for a brief appearance at his intimate birthday party — which also included Garner and their three kids.
However, she spent the rest of the night with her girlfriends at a Bruno Mars concert.
And less than a week later, she made their split official as she finally filed for divorce by herself, without an attorney — while Affleck was traveling back to Los Angeles with Garner after moving their daughter Violet into college.