Jennifer Lopez is done speaking publicly about her dating life.
The four-times married 56-year-old actor, who finalized her divorce from Ben Affleck in January, acknowledged how difficult it was for her to date in the spotlight during Wednesday’s episode of The Howard Stern Show. When host Howard Stern asked her if her relationships have ever seemed like they’re “doomed from the beginning,” Lopez laughed and said no.
“I live my life very out loud, even though I was in the public eye, and I wanted to share my life with someone,” she explained. “I want someone to be there when I'm having my big important moments on the red carpet. I want someone to be there when I'm doing whatever, or when we're going to the store.”
Lopez noted that while she’s spoken openly about her relationships in the past, she doesn’t want to do that anymore.
“I think now, after what's happened in the past few years to me and my children, I just feel like I want to keep that part so much more quiet in my life,” the singer, who shares 17-year-old twins with ex-husband Marc Anthony, said.
“It’s hard, because these are big moments in your life you want to share with everybody,” she added about dating. “And you think that’s OK. But the truth is, when you’re in this type of career, and you have the type of level of fame that we're talking about, there is a compromise. There are adjustments that you do need to make, because it is a very blessed life.”
Lopez was first married to Ojani Noa from 1997 to 1998, an then to Cris Judd from 2001 to 2003. After calling off her first engagement to Affleck in 2003, she was married to Anthony from 2004 to 2014. She and Affleck got married in July 2022, before announcing their split two years later.
During Lopez’s interview with Stern, he asked her if she thought she’s “truly been loved,” to which she responded: “No.” He also asked her if she had “really experienced loving someone,” and she said yes.
However, the Marry Me star argued that while she still believes she’s lovable, her exes were “just not capable” of loving her.
“They don’t have it in them. They need to appreciate the little person inside of them, they need to love them,” she added.
She said that even though she got all the houses, rings, and marriages throughout her past relationships, her former partners didn’t love her, and she didn’t “love herself.”
Lopez’s comments about dating come days after she publicly reunited with Affleck for the first time since their split. They posed together at the New York City red carpet premiere of her new movie, Kiss of the Spider Woman, which Affleck’s company, Artists Equity, produced.
“She’s amazing in the movie,” Affleck said during an interview with Extra at the film’s premiere. “Early on in Jennifer’s involvement in this… she just was going to give it her all and she did. She worked enormously hard. You get to see all of her many gifts. She’s somebody who grew up watching classic musicals.”
Affleck and Lopez finalized their divorce in January after two years of marriage. While most of the financial details of the split remained private, it was reported that each person would keep what they earned throughout the duration of their brief marriage, according to the Daily Mail.
