Ben Affleck didn’t want his love letters to Jennifer Lopez being made public in her new film The Greatest Love Story Never Told – but insiders have claimed it wasn’t because he had kept them a secret from his ex-wife.
Jennifer Garner‘s fans were left outraged after Affleck, 51, revealed he clung onto his correspondence with Lopez during his 13-year marriage – and later had the letters and emails bound into a book to gift the Jenny from the Block singer when they reunited in 2021.
But insiders have quashed any notion that the admission shocked Garner, insisting she is happy for Affleck and Lopez – who she is friends with – and is also at peace in her relationship with John Miller.
‘Ben would love for the outside world not to know about his love letters, but he is a romantic, and as much as he loved Jennifer, he never got over JLo,’ a source told DailyMail.com.
Ben Affleck never kept secret the existence of his old love letters to Jennifer Lopez from his ex-wife Jennifer Garner, sources have claimed (Pictured in February)
It comes after fans of Garner, pictured in 2023, were left outraged when it was revealed that Affleck had kept hold of their correspondence
‘Ben keeps his memories, whether it is from movies he worked on or family and relationship moments, he always has what the kids call “receipts”.’
They continued: ‘No one is surprised by this at all. Jennifer is OK with it, JLo obviously loves it and everyone notices that all this was meant to be.
‘Jennifer and Ben have their wonderful children and are both enjoying the relationships they have always wanted to be in.’
Another source said: ‘JLo and Jennifer have a good relationship and they have become friends and to think that there is any bad feelings on Jennifer’s part about Ben holding onto JLo’s letters is just ridiculous.
‘They have a blended family and Jennifer happily moved on a long time ago with John and the four of them have spent time together on multiple occasions.’
The insider explained that Garner was always aware of Affleck’s fond feelings for Lopez.
‘Jennifer knew going into her marriage how Ben felt about JLo and it was not a secret,’ they continued.
‘JLo and Jen have a lot of respect for each other and Jennifer has told JLo how happy she is that she has come back into Ben’s life because she can actually keep him in check. JLo refuses to let him slip into his old ways.’
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck release documentary on their romance
Lopez’s new documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, revealed that the actor had the letters and emails they wrote each other from 20 years ago made into a book as a gift
During the documentary, Lopez stated: ‘This book is a book Ben gave me on our first Christmas back together. It is every letter and every mail that we wrote each other from 20 years ago and today.’
She highlighted one note that read: ‘The Greatest Love Story Never Told by Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck 2001-2010… and counting…’
The couple got engaged at the end of 2002 but broke it off a year later before calling quits on their relationship for good in 2004.
In the intervening years, Lopez married and divorced Marc Anthony, with whom she has 15-year-old twins Max and Emme.
Affleck and Garner started dating in August 2004, before tying the knot the following year. They announced their separation in 2015, with their divorce finalized in 2018.
The pair now co-parent their three children: Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12.
Lopez’s documentary sheds light on her initial tumultuous initial two-year relationship with Oscar-winner Affleck, which garnered significant public attention and placed a strain on the couple.
Ben Affleck and ex Jennifer Garner step out together in LA
Affleck and Garner, pictured in 2014, started dating in August 2004, and were married from 2005 until they announced their separation in 2015 and divorced in 2018
Bennifer’s love story started in 2002 (pictured) when they dated while filming the movie Jersey Girl. They got engaged the following year but broke up in 2004
‘Ben and I broke up three days before our wedding and we crumbled under the pressure,’ she says in the new film. ‘You think you’re doing ok so you shrug it off.
‘I had a broken heart once I lost the love of my life, my best friend, and I couldn’t talk for so many years and that was the hardest part.
‘I used to think it was everyone else who was broken, now I think it was just me.’
The couple, affectionately known as Bennifer, reunited in July 2021, and finally said ‘I do’ the following year.
Elsewhere in Lopez’s documentary, Affleck disclosed that when they decided to rekindle their relationship, he initially requested they keep it private.
He said: ‘Getting back together, I said, “Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media.
JLo reveals why her relationship with Ben Affleck is so special
Fate intervened, and the couple reunited in July 2021, sealing their bond with marriage just one year later (pictured in January)
‘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.”‘
He added: ‘We’re just two people with different kinds of approaches trying to learn to compromise.’
Lopez has shared only a few photos featuring her husband. These include a shirtless snapshot on Father’s Day and a heartwarming video of them singing Sam Cooke’s (What A) Wonderful World in the car on his birthday.
In the documentary, Lopez also recognized Affleck ‘s unease about being in the public eye as a couple, especially given the intense media scrutiny they faced the first time around.
‘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.’
JLo and Ben Affleck at This Is Me…Now: A Love Story premier
