Jennifer Lopez is asking her ex-husband Ben Affleck for a major favor, and let’s just say—he’s not exactly thrilled about it. According to insiders, the pop star and actress wants Ben to support her Oscars campaign for Kiss of the Spider Woman, a new film she stars in and one that Ben co-produced with Matt Damon.
The pair might be done romantically, but JLo reportedly thinks Ben still owes her after their short-lived marriage came crashing down. And she’s not shy about it. According to Closer Magazine, Jennifer has made it clear to friends that she expects Ben to “throw his weight behind her” during awards season.
“It’s no secret that winning an Oscar is the biggest ambition of her career and, being his film too, she strongly feels Ben should help her,” an insider shared.
And she’s not just hinting—she’s calling in emotional debts. “As far as she’s concerned Ben owes her this after the way their marriage ended. She was so humiliated by the divorce, he completely betrayed her and she thinks he should be jumping at the chance to make it up to her,” the source added.
Jennifer is reportedly determined to land a Best Supporting Actress nomination and sees Ben’s involvement as a potential game-changer. “He could help her finally get the Oscar she’s always wanted. It would be a way for him to redeem himself and prove he respects her talents, even if their marriage didn’t work out,” the insider said.
But the idea hasn’t exactly gone over well with Ben. Famous for avoiding Hollywood’s glitzy PR machine, Affleck has no interest in the red carpet blitz that comes with Oscar campaigning—and even less interest in teaming up publicly with his ex.
“Under any other circumstances he’d throw himself into helping her land this prize by doing a big PR push, doing joint interviews and red carpets, and promoting the heck out of it any way possible. But, as you can imagine, Ben has zero interest in doing that,” the source explained.
And the campaign trail isn’t for the faint of heart. “They call the lead up to the Oscars a ‘campaign,’ because people really do campaign to win, but he hates that side of the business and right now he’s doing pretty much everything he can to avoid being in the same room as JLo, so it’s a huge nightmare for him,” they added.
Meanwhile, their mutual friend and co-producer Matt Damon is reportedly caught in the middle. The insider says Matt is “begging him to just suck it up and play along for all their sakes but Ben is digging in his heels. It’s a mess.”
With Ben said to be “dodging” Jennifer’s calls and wanting to take “a back seat when it comes to publicity,” it’s not looking like he’ll be joining her on the campaign trail anytime soon. Whether that puts a damper on JLo’s Oscar hopes remains to be seen—but it’s clear these two are still entangled in more ways than one.
