When Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck on Tuesday, Aug. 20, most fans were not surprised. What was surprising was the revelation that the 55-year-old singer had submitted the legal documents without the assistance of her lawyer, according to TMZ. Why would an A-list star with significant wealth make such a move? Well, she might be playing a game of chess with Affleck in the divorce.
By filing first, Lopez showed that “she is taking the lead in getting this done,” celebrity divorce attorney Christopher Melcher told Fox News Digital. While there appears to be no prenuptial agreement, the attorney noted that “Jennifer was not required to disclose on the court forms whether she entered into a premarital agreement with Ben.” That means there could be a prenuptial agreement that we don’t know about.
Filing first also has its advantages when it comes to the court of public opinion. Lopez and her team could get her side of the story out ahead of Affleck and sway fans’ perceptions of why the marriage didn’t work out. “Ben hasn’t given her any signs that he wants to continue their marriage,” an insider told People. “He hasn’t shown any commitment and interest in making their marriage work.” Lopez’s friends can let the press know that she was willing to work on their relationship, but he shut her down — so, garnering sympathy in the media is not a bad strategy.
Lopez can also leak curious details like the engraving that was on her green diamond engagement ring. “This one he put ‘not.going.anywhere’ because that’s how he would sign his emails when we started talking again,” Lopez told Apple Music One’s Zane Lowe in November 2022. At the time, it was a cute story, and one that fans quickly forgot about. Now that divorce entered the chat, it shows how all-in Affleck once was in the relationship.
And at least one legal expert thinks that Lopez and Affleck have already worked things out behind the scenes and the filing was just a formality at this point. “I suspect they really suffered going through these several months, and I think she just decided ‘I’m ready to be done,'” said Marilyn Chinitz, partner at Blank Rome told Fox News Digital. “She’s smart enough to know that she would need counsel, and I think that they’ve already worked it out. We’ve got to give them credit. They’re both hugely successful. They’ve both made a lot of money. They both have children from prior marriages who they want to protect.”
Bennifer 2.0 might be over, but Lopez is making sure she controls the narrative in the couple’s last chapter.
Before you go, click here to see the longest celebrity divorces that took years to get finalized.
