Jennifer Lopez Reveals How Divorcing Ben Affleck Changed Her: ‘Best Thing That Ever Happened’

Jennifer Lopez opened up about the life-altering impact of her divorce from Ben Affleck.

In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, shared via the outlet’s YouTube account on Sunday, September 28, Lopez, 56, spoke about Affleck, 53, after the outlet’s reporter Lee Cowan noted that Affleck served as a producer on Lopez’s upcoming film Kiss of the Spider Woman.

“The movie wouldn’t have been made if it wasn’t for him and Artists Equity. I will always give him that credit,” Lopez said of Affleck and Matt Damon’s artist-led production company before turning to how she juggled filming alongside Affleck with a less-than-perfect marriage.

“It was hard not to think about stuff but it was, like, the best and the worst of times. Every moment on set … I was so happy. And then… back home, it was not great,” Lopez explained. “But you get through it and, you know, honestly, I have to say, it was the best thing that ever happened to me because it changed me. It helped me grow in a way that I needed to grow … become more self aware. I’m a different person now than I was last year.”

Lopez, who married Affleck in 2022, filed to divorce the actor in August 2024, with the “Let’s Get Loud” singer listing April 26, 2024, as the pair’s official separation. The divorce was finalized in January.

Cowan, 60, noted during the new interview that Lopez seemed to be “in a good place … happy and confident,” despite a tumultuous 18 months — which Lopez agreed with.

“This summer was probably the best summer I’ve ever had. I’m able to enjoy things more,” she detailed. “I realized that joy is in living … and really embracing life and everything that it brings to you. The hard times are the lessons and you have to understand that. I feel like, if that [the divorce] hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t understand that.”

Us Weekly revealed exclusive details into Lopez and Affleck’s marriage in May 2024, with an insider sharing that the pair were “having issues” at the time. “They are on two completely different pages most of the time,” the source told Us.

After the divorce was finalized, Affleck spoke out about the former relationship during a candid interview with GQ magazine. “There’s a tendency to look at breakups and want to identify root causes or something. But honestly … the truth is much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting,” he told the outlet in the interview, which was published in March. “There’s no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue [about our divorce]. The truth is, when you talk to somebody, ‘Hey, what happened?’ Well, there is no, ‘This is what happened.’”

Affleck noted, “It’s just a story about people trying to figure out their lives and relationships in ways that we all sort of normally do.”