Ben Affleck Revisits How Mean People Were To Ex Jennifer Lopez During Their Engagement

Ben Affleck revisited his dating history with ex Jennifer Lopez and recalled how mean the public was to her back then.

Affleck, 48, and Lopez, 51, dated in 2000 and got engaged in 2002. They parted ways in 2004 with Affleck marrying another "Jennifer" — Jennifer Garner. Just recently, he appeared in The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast and shared how his romance with Lopez was the tabloids' favorite at the time.

"There's always a story of the month, and me dating Jennifer Lopez happened to be that tabloid story at the time when that business grew exponentially ... they needed something to write about and we were that thing," Affleck said.

Looking back and until today, some would still inform him that they saw his paparazzi photos when he just left his home to take out the trash. He felt that whenever he left his house, others would think he was taking a pap walk, adding that it was "absurd" that people would think he wanted to be on The Daily Mail's reports. The "Batman v Superman" star also shared how mean the reports about Lopez were back then.

"People were so f--king mean about her -- sexist, racist, ugly, vicious s--t was written about her in ways that if you wrote it now you would literally be fired for saying those things you said," he continued.

"Now it's like, she's lionized and respected for the work she did, where she came from, what she accomplished -- as well she f—king should be! I would say you have a better shot, coming from the Bronx, of ending up as like [Justice Sonia] Sotomayor on the Supreme Court than you do of having Jennifer Lopez's career and being who she is at 50 years old today.”

Affleck and Garner's marriage also didn't work out. They split in 2015 and their divorce was finalized in 2018. Meanwhile, Lopez is now engaged to be married to Alex Rodriguez. Affleck, on the other hand, is dating Ana de Armas.