Jennifer Lopez Is ‘Grateful the Friendship’ With Ex Ben Affleck Is ‘Still There’ After Divorce

When Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck this past August, many fans scoured The Greatest Love Story Never Told — a documentary J. Lo made about their romance — looking for clues as to what went wrong for the couple. But in a new interview with GQ, Ben, 52, says there are no such clues to be found.

“It’s not like you can watch that documentary and go, ‘Oh, now I understand the issues that these two had,’” he told the magazine, adding their split was “pretty adult.”

According to Ben, the truth behind their demise is much more mundane “than probably people would believe.”

“It’s just a story about people trying to figure out their lives and relationships,” he said. “There is no ‘So-and-so did this’ or ‘This was the big event.’”

There was one thing Ben emphasized repeatedly in the chat, though: The high esteem in which he holds his ex.

“I hope I was clear that really this is somebody I have a lot of respect for,” the actor said, insisting he has no “negativity or judgment” toward J. Lo, 55. “I have nothing but respect.”

J. Lo’s Side of Things

Ben acknowledged he always knew he was “more reserved and private,” than the Unstoppable star, but claimed that had nothing to do with the unraveling of their less-than-two-year marriage.

“You’ve got to own what you knew going into any relationship,” he shared with GQ. “That wasn’t the cause of some major fracture.”

For Jennifer, the respect flows both ways. “She and Ben communicate all the time and continue to support each other’s endeavors,” a source exclusively tells In Touch. “J. Lo admires Ben for expressing himself in such an honest way in the article.”

That doesn’t mean she agrees with his take on their divorce. In October, Jennifer told Interview she felt like her “whole [expletive] world exploded” during the breakup.

“J. Lo has a different perspective of how things ended,” admits the source. “A part of her still thinks Ben didn’t try hard enough to make it work.”

When the two rekindled their romance in 2021 —17 years after calling off their first engagement — she thought it would last forever, says the source: “Jennifer really went into the relationship with her whole heart and it hurt that they couldn’t figure out a way to stay together.”

At the end of the day, though, J. Lo has no regrets. “She is grateful the friendship’s still there,” shares the insider. “Neither one can imagine a time when they don’t talk. They love each other and that will never go away.”