Jennifer Lopez’s Ex Said There’s ‘No Way’ He Would Get Back With Her Like Ben Affleck Did

In 1998, Jennifer Lopez and her ex, Ojani Noa, went their separate ways. The couple married in 1997 and, after less than a year of marriage, called it quits. Noa said marriage to Lopez had not been easy, mostly because of her rising level of fame. When Lopez married Ben Affleck years after their initial split, Noa said he wished them the best. Still, he said he never would have made the decision to get back together with Lopez. 

Jennifer Lopez’s ex said he would not reunite with her after their tumultuous romance

Lopez and Noa met at a restaurant where he worked as a server. After an “electric” first night together, the pair threw themselves into a relationship. He joined her on movie sets whenever he could, and they spent as much time together as her career allowed. Before long, they began talking about marriage.

“She would introduce me to friends. I never felt like an outsider. We were just happy and in love,” he told the Daily Mail in 2024. “We started talking about marriage within months of seriously dating and I asked her to marry me about a year and a half after we met.”

After less than a year of marriage, though, the couple went their separate ways. Noa said they remained friendly at first. He worked as the manager of her restaurant, Madre’s, but eventually sued her for wrongful termination. Later, she filed a lawsuit against him for trying to write a book about their relationship. These days, Noa said he doesn’t have any lingering bad feelings toward her. 

“There are no bad feelings at all. I would always be her friend,” he said. “I sympathize with both [Lopez and Affleck] because divorce is hard.”

While Noa wishes her the best, he said there is “no way” he would ever get back together with her.

Jennifer Lopez’s ex said he grew tired of presenting a lie about their relationship to the world

According to Noa, the reason the relationship became so challenging was because of Lopez’s fame. He wanted to keep their romance private, but she seemed to like the attention on them.

“I felt she was really ­enjoying the media attention,” he said. “I would say to her: ‘You have to be private. You can’t be real in a relationship if you’re always being photographed.’”

They began to argue more often but would have to put on happy faces at public events. Noa struggled with this.

“I can tell you in my own ­experience, we would have ­disagreements in the car and then 20 minutes later, we’d have to sit and pretend everything was fine,” he said. “‘But you can only pretend so much. When we were going through hell and going out as a couple, I was in a bad mood too. Because I knew inside we were not good.”

He offered advice to his ex-wife

In the aftermath of Lopez’s divorce from Affleck, Noa thinks she should take some time to be single.

“Stay single for a while, take 12 months off,” he said. “If she meets someone new, maybe keep it private and not get ­married again. She has an amazing career and she’s a hard-working, beautiful woman, but when you’re with someone, you have to spend quality time with them and not think about being on camera.”