Jane Fonda, a veteran actress, seemed to have foreseen the eventual split of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, as she expressed concerns about their relationship months before they parted ways.
Fonda, 86, who has been friends with Lopez since they co-starred in the 2005 film Monster-in-Law, shared her reservations about the singer’s rekindled romance with Affleck in the February release of the music documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told.
“I want you to know that I don’t entirely know why, but I feel invested in you and Ben, and I really, really want this to work,” Fonda told Lopez in the film. “However, this is my concern: it feels too much like you’re trying to prove something instead of just living it.”
Fonda’s concerns were echoed in the couple’s highly publicized displays of affection, with every other photograph showing them kissing and hugging. Despite their many affectionate red carpet appearances, Lopez, 55, filed for divorce from Affleck, 51, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing April 26, 2024, as their date of separation.
Jane Fonda seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck ‘s relationship, expressing concerns about the couple months before their eventual split (pictured April)
Fonda also confessed to Lopez that she had been concerned when footage from the Grammys in March 2023 seemingly showed her reprimanding Affleck for appearing downcast and bored.
The couple had also been accused of having tense interactions outside red carpet affairs, the most famous being a clip of a “miserable” Affleck closing Lopez’s car door.
Fonda said: “I got real scared, you know, with all that s*** about the Grammys and he looks unhappy and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, what’s happening?'” To which JLo laughing responded: “Nothing! He was like, ‘I’ve become the symbol of the beleaguered man’.”
Before agreeing to participate in This Is Me … Now: A Love Story, Fonda spoke with Lopez’s manager Benny Medina, who recalled their conversation in the film.
Medina said: “She called me and said, ‘I believe that everyone in the entire world is pulling for this love and the idea of how you present it is so sacrosanct and so important that it should be handled in a way that you aren’t overly flaunting it so much that it creates any form of criticism or resentment.”
Ben also appeared in The Greatest Love Story Never Told and spoke about wanting to keep their relationship “private”.
The film followed the making of JLo’s latest album, This Is Me… Now, most of which was inspired by her romance with Ben.
‘I want you to know that I don’t entirely know why, but I feel invested in you and Ben and I really, really want this to work,’ Fonda told Lopez in the film
During one part of the movie, Ben admitted that he was “taken aback” when he found her musicians rifling through his private love letters, which JLo had given them to look at as inspiration for her next album.
The actor had clung onto his correspondence with the singer during his 13-year marriage to Jennifer Garner – and later had the letters and emails bound into a book to gift her when they reunited in 2021.
He told the camera: “Things that are private I always felt are sacred and special because, in part, they’re private.”
Lopez and Affleck made headlines in 2021 when they rekindled their romance, nearly 17 years after calling off their original engagement and postponing their September 2003 wedding.
They officially parted ways in January 2004 but stayed on good terms over the years.
In April 2021, reports surfaced that the musician and the Oscar-winning director were reconnecting after Lopez’s breakup with former MLB star Alex Rodriguez.
The couple confirmed their relationship on Instagram that July and made their red carpet return at the 2021 Venice Film Festival.
In April 2022, Lopez confirmed her engagement to Affleck.
The couple then surprised everyone with a Las Vegas wedding on July 16, 2022. A month later, they hosted a grander celebration at Affleck’s 87-acre estate near Savannah, Georgia.
Lopez and Fonda have been friends for nearly 20 years since co-starring in the 2005 rom-com Monster-In-Law (pictured)
Lopez has 16-year-old twins, Max and Emme, from her marriage to Marc Anthony, which lasted from 2004 to 2014.
Affleck, who was married to Garner from 2005 to 2018, has three children with her: 18-year-old Violet, 15-year-old Fin, and 12-year-old Samuel.