Love was in the air on the set of Kevin Smith’s Jersey Girl when Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez hopped right from starring in the ill-fated Gigli together to leading the 2004 comedy side-by-side. The movie was made in the midst of the media craze that was “Bennifer,” which had their relationship on constant watch on the front of tabloids before Bragelina or Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson came to be. Well, rumor has it that Bennifer is back!
Last month JLo officially split from Alex Rodriguez, just a few months following Ben Affleck’s breakup with Ana de Armas. Jennifer Lopez and Affleck have since been seen together on a getaway in Montana, leading fans to believe sparks could be flying between the couple once again. Even their Jersey Girl director, Kevin Smith, is joining the hype with this recent post on Twitter:
Kevin Smith is taking credit for the name “Bennifer” as it's became a big topic again for the first time in 17 years. He shared that he called the pair Bennifer while he was prepping production on Jersey Girl before it became a major Hollywood story. Smith said he first dropped the name to the NY Times before it caught on as a shortened way to identify the couple. In other words, Smith apparently started the combined couple name trend.
That’s right, the popularity of name-blending in reference to celebrity couples can be pinpointed to Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s relationship until other names like Brangelina, Kimye or TomKat caught fire years later. If Kevin Smith is really behind it, magazine publishers should thank him for making it easy for them to fit less words on the same headline, among other ways Bennifer shifted pop culture.
Early this month, Kevin Smith spoke to the rumors of Bennifer’s potential return, remembering his own memories of the couple. He shared that he was present in the beginning stages of their love story and found the pair “adorable and very much in love.” He found it a sweet story if Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck do, in fact, get heart eyes for each other once again all these years later.
Jennifer Lopez had been engaged to retired MLB player Alex Rodriguez and in a committed relationship with him for four years prior to the couple making an official statement that they’ve decided they are “better as friends” and calling off the wedding. Rumors previously swirled around A-Rod cheating on Lopez as well.
On Ben Affleck’s side of things, the 48-year-old spent the past year with Knives Out star Ana de Armas before the pair broke things off in January and is reportedly actively looking for a new partner. When opening up to GMA about his plans for the future after getting sober in 2020, the actor shared his hopes to be a “healthy, stable, loving, committed relationship” between co-parenting with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. Time will tell if the Jersey Girl couple are truly back on!
