Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are – after much, much, much speculation – getting divorced.
On Tuesday, Jennifer Lopez, 55, filed to divorce Ben Affleck, 52, in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to court filings obtained by USA TODAY. Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the estranged couple’s Georgia wedding ceremony. TMZ and Variety report their date of separation as April 26.
TMZ was first to report the news. USA TODAY has reached out to reps for Affleck and Lopez for comment.
This was the second marriage for Affleck and the fourth for Lopez. The two were engaged to each other twice: first in 2002 then again in 2021.
Rumors about their divorce have been circulating for months, many of them cheeky and downright cruel in nature. But why?
Watching rich and famous people crumble is an appetizing pastime for many – particularly when it comes to the ups and downs of celebrities.
But the lampooning of JLo and Ben Affleck may say more about us than it does about them. Experts say we can’t look away because of schadenfreude – finding joy in others’ hardships – and the ever-tantalizing appeal of a good story.
“There’s pleasure in watching rich people who seem to have it all and these (moments) remind us that, well, they really don’t have it all,” Elizabeth Cohen, associate professor at West Virginia University who researches psychology of media and pop culture, previously told USA TODAY. “And maybe they don’t even necessarily deserve it all.”
‘It can be motivational, but make you feel bad about yourself’
A psychological theory called “social comparison” is behind our love for this drama, Cohen says. It posits that humans will always try and compare themselves to other people to figure out where they fit in the world. If you perceive someone is “better” than you, you fall into upward social comparison.
“The problem with upward social comparison is that it can be positive, but it makes you feel like you’re not where you need to be,” Cohen says. “So it can be motivational, but it can also make you feel bad about yourself.”
The flip side is downward social comparison, where you consume media solely to look down on others. Seeing Lopez and Affleck divorce makes people realize that they aren’t infallible, and therefore easy to project on and pile on.