There may be a whole lot more to Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s divorce than fans previously thought.
While many believe Affleck’s private nature led to the couple’s marital woes, a new report paints a different picture. According to multiple sources, Affleck’s was the âdriving forceâ behind The Greatest Love Story Never Told, the documentary released alongside Lopez’s album and film project, This Is Meâ¦Now: A Love Story.
âThe documentary was Benâs idea for his company, Artists Equity,” one source told People. “Jenniferâs team didnât want to do it since she was focused on the album and Amazon original video project.â
That will probably come as a shock to anyone who saw the documentary, which touches on Bennifer’s opposing views on fame. “I had a very firm sense of boundaries initially, around the press, while Jen, I don’t think objected to it in the way I did. I did very much object to it,” Affleck revealed in the doc. âGetting back together, I said, âListen, one of the things I donât want is a relationship on social media. Then I sort of realized itâs not a fair thing to ask. Itâs sort of like, youâre gonna marry a boat captain and you go, âWell, I donât like the water.ââ
Lopez seemed to note Affleck’s discomfort in the documentary as well. “I don’t think he’s very comfortable with me doing all of this,” she said at the time. “But he loves me, he knows I’m an artist and he’s going to support me in every way he can because he knows he can’t stop me from making the music I made and writing the words that I wrote. That’s going to happen and he doesn’t want to stop me.”
She continued, âHe wants to do that [for me], but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable being the muse.â
Another source told People that Affleck âinsistedâ on the documentary and was highly involved in the editing process. âHe was the one who had control, pretty much,” the source said, claiming Affleck’s hesitancy to be included in the film âwas a false narrative.â
âHe loved the movie and album, but when you look at the doc, it looks like he’s surprised by it and not signing up for it,â the source said. “He was playing the role of playing the regular guy and meanwhile, he was the engine in back of it.”
They continued, “He definitely took it away from the director so he could have the narrative he wanted out there.”
Interestingly, this report came out a day after a source told People that Ben Affleck’s âerratic mood swingsâ impacted Lopez’s decision to file for divorce. âThey were trying to work through it, but when the mood swings and the big highs and big lows informed a toxicity that was pervasive, no one can help you â you have to help yourself,â the source said. âThe world was rooting for them, but who he said he was and who he turned out to be were two different people.â