EXCLUSIVE: How Jennifer Lopez Finally Moved On From Ex-Husband Ben Affleck
Jennifer Lopez moved on from Ben Affleck and embraced a new chapter.
Sept. 7 2026, Updated 3:00 p.m. ET
Jennifer Lopez went through an intensely emotional family moment which finally helped her "move on" from her failed marriage to Ben Affleck after their high-profile relationship collapsed, Radaronline.com can reveal.
The 57-year-old singer and actress split from Affleck, 54, in 2024 after two years of marriage, ending a romance they had sensationally rekindled almost two decades after calling off their first engagement.
Lopez, who shares 18-year-old twins Max and Emme with ex-husband Marc Anthony, has now said watching the Oscar-winning Brazilian drama I'm Still Here with her father, David Lopez, helped transform her outlook.
A source told Radar: "Jennifer had spent a long time trying to process everything that happened with Ben, but this was one of those unexpected moments that allowed something inside her to finally shift. It wasn't really about Ben anymore – it was about understanding herself, her father and the relationships she had experienced throughout her life."
The Movie That Left J.Lo in Tears
The actress watched the drama 'I'm Still Here' during a family Christmas gathering.
Lopez became tearful while discussing her recent emotional experience with her Office Romance co-star Brett Goldstein on his Films to Be Buried With podcast.
Asked which movie had changed her perspective, she said: "A couple years ago, I got really sick around Christmas time. My family was in town. My dad, my mom, my cousin, everybody.
"My Dad (David) is not a sit-down watch-a-movie guy. My mom (Guadalupe) was all about movies, entertainment, musicals, the whole thing, I got all of that from her."
Her father nevertheless sat down to watch I'm Still Here, which stars Fernanda Torres as Eunice Paiva, whose husband, politician Rubens Paiva, disappeared during Brazil's military dictatorship.
J.Lo Breaks Down Over Her Divorce
She broke into tears while reflecting on her children and past relationships.
Lopez said: "I think because I was sick."
She continued: "And at that time of my life, I was going through a divorce and thinking a lot about my kids.
"As you do when something like that happens in your life, (we watched a movie.)
"My dad was sitting there and something happened in my head and I just started crying, where I started calculating all of the things with my kids, my experience with my dad, like everything happened just all at once.
"My whole family knew I was going through a hard time... he turns around and he sees my face. I was trying to quiet cry quietly – when you try to cry quietly, then it's like all the tears, it's like water gushing down my face."
The Touching Moment That Healed Her
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The star successfully closed that painful chapter without letting it define her.
The Hustlers star said her father then noticed her distress and asked what was wrong.
She recalled: "I said, 'Dads are so important.' And he just kind of came over to me and grabbed my face and said, 'I love you. I always loved you.' And that kind of changed my life in that moment.
"(It) healed a part of me that needed to be healed to kind of move on from that part of my life and from those types of relationships in my life. So that movie changed me and helped me grow."
An insider said: "That realization about family was enormously important for Jennifer. Moving on wasn't about suddenly forgetting Ben – it was about recognizing patterns in her life and reaching a point where she could leave that chapter behind without allowing it to define what comes next."
When Goldstein thanked her for the story, Lopez joked through her tears: "Are you gonna cry too? Cry with me! Why are you leaving me all alone?"
