It looks like Jennifer Lopez and Ben Afflecks early aughts film Gigli set the tone for their two-time failing relationship.
When Sony rolled out Gigli, pronounced Jeely, in August 2003, they werent optimistic about the movies success given the bad press that was surrounding it. For starters, J.Lo didnt commit early on when she was initially considered to portray lesbian gangster Gigli character Ricki, almost being replaced by Halle Berry. It wasn’t until the thriller she was planning to star in Tick Tock, about terrorist bombings, was canned in the wake of 9/11 that Jennifer was back on board with Gigli.
Amid filming, Ben and Jen were at the center of much attention as at the time they were rumored to be getting close during shooting.
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This attracted many eyes because when the Lets Get Loud singer was working on Gigli with Ben she had been married to Criss Judda dancer she met in the wake of her and P.Diddys split.
As filming ended in April 2002, the Oscar-winning actor paid for a full-page trade ad so he could complement Jenny From The Block as a co-star. They then were spotted being cuddly with each other at Jens surprise party for her 32nd birthday in July, which was two days before she filed for divorce from Criss.
A whirlwind romance ensued and was heavily publicized in part because of Jennifers Jenny From The Block music video, which premiered on MTV in November 2002. In the music video, the new couple sunbathed on a lavish yacht as Ben popped on her on her bodacious backside, and undid a string from her bikini.
Not too long after that, the Bennifer couple were engaged, with Ben buying the singer-songwriter a jaw-dropping 6.1-carat pink multi-million dollar diamond ring. All of the extreme amounts of exposure that the Gigli stars were getting ultimately led to the downfall of the film.
The movie didnt work, Ben told Variety the Monday after the movie was released. We tried to fix it. But it was like putting a fishs tail on a donkeys head. Giglis made a mere $3.8 million during its opening in August 2003.
I was like, its just spectacular, its a tsunami, it couldnt be worse. This is as bad as it gets, Ben recalled. However, it continued to worsen. By the third weekend, Gigli was cut from 97% of the theater screens it opened on. On top of that, the movie lost approximately $119 million.
All of the harsh press that fell upon them and the film seemed to put a strain on the pairs first engagement, which they called off in January 2004.
They both moved forward without each other. Jennifer went on to marry and have children with Marc Anthony, and Ben went on to marry and have children with Jennifer Garner.
After spending years apart, Jennifer and Ben reconnected in 2021, marrying in 2022. But, just like the first breakup, the A-listers called it quits exactly two years later. Jennifer filed for divorce from Ben in August 2024.