Jennifer Lopez said her divorce from Ben Affleck was the ‘best thing that ever happened’ to her.
While reflecting on their split over a year later, the 56-year-old actress admitted that their split ‘changed’ her and ‘helped me grow in a way that I needed to grow.’
Back in August 2024, Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Affleck on their second wedding anniversary, citing ‘irreconcilable differences.’
After their divorce was finalized earlier this year, she said she ‘had so much fun.’
On Sunday’s episode of CBS News Sunday Morning, however, Jennifer Lopez told Lee Cowan about how she had a ‘tough time’ in the wake of their split.
She recalled working on her new movie, Kiss of the Spider Woman, which also had her ex serving as an executive producer on the film
The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January earlier this year, the same month they finalized their divorce.
When asked about how she handled the time when her personal life was ‘not great,’ she said she ‘barely’ could.
‘It was a really tough time,’ she confessed about working on the same project he was also working on in the wake of their split.
She said working on the film helped her focus on something outside of her heartbreak.
‘It was hard not to think about stuff, but it was like the best and the worst of times, in a way.
‘Every moment on set, every moment I was doing this role, I was so happy,’ she said. ‘And then it was like, back home, it was not great.’
She added: ‘And it was just like, “How do I reconcile this?” But you get through it.’
The On the Floor hitmaker said she later realized their divorce was the ‘best thing that ever happened to me’ as it helped her ‘grow.’
She said their separation ultimately helped her ‘become more self-aware.’
‘I’m a different person now than I was a year and a half ago,’ she told Cowan.
And following their split, she said she was able to enjoy ‘probably the best summer I’ve ever had’ this year.
‘I had so much fun. I’m able to enjoy things more and be great,’ she said.
Jennifer Lopez also spoke fondly of her ex when talking about his contribution to her film adaptation of the Broadway musical Kiss of the Spider Woman.
‘The movie wouldn’t have been made if it wasn’t for him and Artist Equity,’ she said of her ex-husband and his production company.
‘I will always give him credit for that,’ she said before explaining that it wasn’t because he was always ‘pushing’ for the movie but rather because ‘they financed it.’
‘I told him this was the role I was born to play and I wanted to do it and he was like, “Okay.” And he helped make it happen,’ she recalled.
Jennifer Lopez and Affleck were married for two years, from their initial, low-key wedding ceremony in July 2022 up until to the singer filed for divorce in August 2024.
They had previously been in a relationship back in the early 2000s and rekindled their romance in 2021 before tying the knot a year later.