Ben Affleck revealed he initially asked his wife Jennifer Lopez to keep their rekindled romance offline after getting back together in 2021. 

While navigating their reconciliation, two decades following their first engagement, the two-time Oscar winner, 51, admitted he had zero interest in becoming a fixture on his 54-year-old wife’s social media accounts.

In his spouse’s new Amazon Prime documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told, the Gone Girl star explained his trepidations about Lopez sharing photos of them together with her more than 253 million followers.

‘Getting back together, I said, ‘Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media,’ the actor recalled. ‘Then I sort of realized it’s not a fair thing to ask. It’s sort of like, you’re gonna marry a boat captain and you go, ‘Well, I don’t like the water.’

+9
View gallery

Ben Affleck revealed he initially asked his wife Jennifer Lopez to keep their rekindled romance offline after getting back together in 2021 (pictured in March 2023)

He continued: ‘We’re just two people with different kinds of approaches trying to learn to compromise.’

Ultimately, Lopez has respected his wishes, and has only posted a small handful of snaps featuring him, including a raunchy shirtless photo last Father’s Day and a sweet video of them singing Sam Cooke’s (What A) Wonderful World in the car on his birthday.

During the documentary, the mother-of-two acknowledged Affleck’s discomfort with stepping in the spotlight as a couple after facing intense media scrutiny when they first dated between 2002 and 2004.

‘I don’t think [Ben] is very comfortable with me doing all of this,’ she said. ‘But he loves me, he knows I’m an artist, and he’s gonna support me in every way he can because he knows you can’t stop me from making the music I made… he doesn’t want to stop me. But that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable being the muse.’

The Let’s Get Loud hitmaker went on to share the incredibly romantic gift her husband gave her for their first Christmas back together.

She gushed that Affleck had made a book with every letter and email they’d ever exchanged spanning two decades, which he titled The Greatest Love Story Never Told.

In December, she admitted they ‘both have PTSD’ from the glare of the spotlight on their first romance.

After their broken engagement, they both went on to marry and divorce other people before eventually finding their way back into each other’s arms.

+9
View gallery

While navigating their reconciliation, two decades following their first engagement, the two-time Oscar winner, 51, admitted he had zero interest in becoming a fixture on his 54-year-old wife’s social media accounts

+9
View gallery

In his spouse’s new Amazon Prime documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told, the Gone Girl star explained his trepidations about Lopez sharing photos of them together with her more than 253 million Instagram followers

+9
View gallery

‘Getting back together, I said, ‘Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media,’ the actor recalled. ‘Then I sort of realized it’s not a fair thing to ask. It’s sort of like, you’re gonna marry a boat captain and you go, ‘Well, I don’t like the water’

She shared that ‘we both have PTSD’ from their initial experience, but explained that in their present life as a married couple they’re ‘older’ and ‘wiser.’

J-Lo added: ‘We also know what’s important, what’s really important in life, and it’s not so much what other people think. It’s about being true to who you are.’

Jennifer and Ben first became a couple on the set of Gigli and embarked on a relationship that became a flashpoint of attention.

Their eye-catching public appearances, accompanied by the box office disaster of Gigli, were the subject of constant conversation.

Jennifer poured fuel on the fire with the release of This Is Me… Then, which was dedicated to her boyfriend and featured songs about him including Dear Ben.

‘Bennifer’ became a lightning rod for adulation and then mockery, including a memorably acidic parody of them on an episode of South Park.

+9
View gallery

Ultimately, Lopez has respected his wishes, and has only posted a small handful of snaps featuring him, including a raunchy shirtless photo last Father’s Day and a sweet video of them singing Sam Cooke’s (What A) Wonderful World in the car on his birthday

+9
View gallery

During the documentary, the mother-of-two acknowledged Affleck’s discomfort with stepping in the spotlight as a couple after facing intense media scrutiny when they first dated between 2002 and 2004

+9
View gallery

‘I don’t think [Ben] is very comfortable with me doing all of this,’ she said. ‘But he loves me, he knows I’m an artist, and he’s gonna support me in every way he can because he knows you can’t stop me from making the music I made… he doesn’t want to stop me. But that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable being the muse’

Trey Parker, co-creator of the cartoon, later asserted he heard gossip that the production assistants started quoting the spoof on the set of one of J-Lo’s films.

‘She got so mad and had to fire people,’ alleged Trey, who is also one of the voice stars on the show. ‘But she kept hearing it in the distance.’

The couple got engaged near the end of 2002 but broke the engagement in late 2003 before ending their relationship entirely in 2004.

In the intervening years, Jennifer married and divorced her third ex-husband Marc Anthony, with whom she welcomed her 15-year-old twins Max and Emme.

Meanwhile Ben married and divorced Jennifer Garner, with whom he amicably co-parents three children – Violet, 18, Seraphina, 14, and Samuel, 11.