Jennifer Lopez is getting candid about the first time she and Ben Affleck dated 20 years ago.
In a new, revealing interview, the 52-year-old delved deep into her career and personal decisions that have led to becoming an A-list pop sensation, while also acknowledging the "brutal" criticism that came with her high profile romance with the "Good Will Hunting" star two decades ago.
In the Rolling Stone cover story, there are some fun early memories that come out, like how as a child she liked "Happy Days" and stuck Menudo posters on the light-pink walls of the room she shared with her younger sister, Lynda. “I wanted to accomplish things,” she said upon reflection of those fandom days. “I had that competitive kind of spirit.”
But when pressed for specific details of mistakes she has made in her life, Lopez brought up aspects of her first relationship with Affleck during the "Bennifer" era from 2002 to 2004.
She and Affleck had a very public relationship that ended 18 years ago, only to see themselves back together in 2021. And by all accounts, the sequel is working well.
“I won’t talk about it a lot," she said of the second time around with Affleck. "We’ve both grown. We’re the same, and we’re different. And that’s what’s nice... having a second chance at real love... Like I said, we learned a lot. We know what’s real, what’s not real. So it’s just — the game has changed. Again, I’m trying not to say too much.”
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Later, discussion of some hurtful comments arose, specifically those during the first go-round with Affleck. Rolling Stone cited when “South Park” called Lopez a “mean-spirited b****” in an episode that poked fun at her Latin heritage, and when Conan O’Brien said he would cast “our script intern” as Affleck and “our cleaning lady” as Lopez for stand-ins in a sketch about the couple.
“It was brutal," Lopez shared. "It’s one of those things that you bury very deeply so you can move on and get about your business.”
The sheer mass of attention and criticism contributed to the demise of the couple's relationship.
“It’s funny because Ben and I were together, and we were so in love," said Lopez. "It was one of the happiest times of my life. But also, there was this other thing happening where we were being criticized, and it really destroyed our relationship from the inside out, because we were just too young to understand at that time what were really the most important things in life.”
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Despite the rough patches in her past, the "Waiting for Tonight" singer is now enjoying life, her relationship with Affleck, and setting her sights on what's ahead.
“I’m really happy, probably more than I’ve even been in my whole life,” she said. “I try to always live from a place of gratitude. But today, especially, if you ask me what my first thought was, it was, ‘Thank you. Thank you, God, for this day. Thank you for my life, what it is.’”
Lopez's latest film, "Marry Me," opens in theaters and streams exclusively on Peacock on February 11.
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