Jennifer Lopez Once Felt Dating Alex Rodriguez Was Easier Than Dating Ben Affleck
After Jennifer Lopez’s first break-up with Ben Affleck, she was in a well-known relationship with baseball star Alex Rodriguez years later. And at the time, dating Rodriguez was an entirely different experience than dating Affleck.
Jennifer Lopez described the difference between dating Alex Rodriguez and Ben Affleck
Lopez and Rodriguez dated for four years before going their separate ways in 2021. The two already knew each other for a long time. But they didn’t start their relationship until 2017. However, Lopez admitted that she wasn’t too sure about Rodriguez when she started dating him. If only because Rodriguez seemed too good to be true.
“Everything just seemed almost too perfect too soon, so it almost made me more like, ‘Hey, what’s happening? Let me just wait a second,'” Lopez said in an interview with Sirius XM (Yahoo). “When it happened, I think it was the right time. We both knew.”
Years before she dated Rodriguez, Lopez was in a heavily publicized relationship with boyfriend Ben Affleck. Similarly to her and Rodriguez, the two were going to marry before calling it quits in 2004. Lopez would meet Rodriguez a year later, although it’d be more than a decade before they reconnected.
In a 2018 interview with InStyle, Lopez asserted that dating Rodriguez was much easier than dating Affleck. Especially because of the lack of media attention focused on their relationship.
“It was actually worse then,” Lopez said. “It was just crazy. Now, at least, I can show you who I am a little bit. Back then you just believed anything you read on the cover of a tabloid. Many times, it wasn’t true, or it was like a third of the truth.”
If anything, Lopez felt she and Rodriguez were able to use social media to their advantage. It allowed them both to control the narrative when it came to their image.
“Now people get to see that this guy they thought was this hard-nosed athlete is, like, a goofy dad who loves his kids and celebrates his girlfriend,” she said.
Alex Rodriguez was reportedly shocked by how quickly Jennifer Lopez moved on to Ben Affleck
Rodriguez and Lopez later broke up in 2021. Shortly afterward, however, Lopez resumed her relationship with Affleck. A source once told Rodriguez that Lopez’s reunion with the actor caught the baseball star by surprise.
“A.Rod is shocked that J.Lo has moved on,” the source told E! News. “He truly thought they would be able to make it work and reconnect. He has been reaching out to J.Lo trying to meet with her and she has been very short with him.”
The source also alleged that Rodriguez tried to tell Lopez personally about his feelings on the matter. But Lopez didn’t plan on rekindling her romance with Rodriguez the way she did with Affleck.
If these rumors were true, Rodriguez’s shock might’ve been understandable. Rodriguez and Lopez broke up in April 2021. Lopez and Affleck announced their relationship in July of that same year.
What was known about Jennifer Lopez’s break-up with Alex Rodriguez
A few sources alleged that Lopez and Rodriguez had an amicable split and simply believed they’d be better off as friends. The hope was for the two to remain in each other’s lives going forward.
According to one source, the reason for the break-up led to a lack of trust on Lopez’s part.
“Once her trust is broken, there’s no turning around. She feels good about her decision because she knows A.Rod will still be in her life, just in a different capacity,” the source once said in a separate E! News interview.
Despite their friendship, however, it was noted that Rodriguez was optimistic that they’d end up back together eventually.
“They don’t know what’s going to happen. Untangling their lives, business dealings, and families would be devastating to everyone involved,” the source claimed.
