Jennifer Lopez opens up about divorce helping her grow in new interview

Jennifer Lopez is getting candid about her divorce from Ben Affleck.

In a recent interview with “CBS Sunday Morning,” the 56-year-old actress and singer discussed Affleck’s involvement in her new film, “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” and why she considers her divorce from the actor, “the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Because it changed me,” she explained. “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… I realized that the joy is in living and these moments and really embracing life and everything that it brings to you, for the lessons that it brings.”

She went on to say that once those lessons are learned, “everything just becomes a little bit lighter and you can really really fly.” When asked if she now feels like she’s flying, Lopez said yes, adding, “I still feel like I want to fly higher.” 

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During the interview, Lopez shared that Affleck was an executive producer on the film when they were still married, saying he “helped make it happen” after she told him “this was the role I was born to play.” 

“It was the best and worst time in a way, because it was every moment on set and every moment I was doing this role, I was so happy, and then it was like, back home, it was not great. And it was just like, ‘How do I work inside of this?'”

“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.”

— Jennifer Lopez

The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the same month they finalized their divorce. 

“Kiss of the Spider Woman,” based on the 1993 Broadway musical, was adapted based on the 1976 novel. It follows the story of Valentin, a political prisoner who builds an unlikely friendship with his cellmate as he tells him the story of a Hollywood musical starring his favorite actress, played by Lopez.

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The couple first began dating in 2002 after they met while working on the movie, “Gigli.” They were together for two years and even got engaged, before going their separate ways in 2004. 

Both Affleck and Lopez married other people and started their families, before getting back together in 2021. After getting engaged in April 2022, the couple tied the knot in July of that year.

“It was the biggest heartbreak of my life and I honestly thought I was going to die,” the “Let’s Get Loud” singer told Apple Music One in November 2022 about their first breakup. “It sent me on a spiral for the next 18 years where I just couldn’t get it right. But now, 20 years later, it does have a happy ending.”

Ultimately, Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024 after two years of marriage.

When speaking to GQ for their April issue in 2025, Affleck reflected on their divorce, saying he understands that “there’s a tendency to look at breakups and want to identify root causes,” but that his breakup with Lopez “is much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting.”

“There’s no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue,” he said. “The truth is, when you talk to somebody, ‘Hey, what happened?’ Well, there is no, ‘This is what happened.'”