Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck confirm rumours they are back together following recent photographs. The image of the couple draped over each on a yacht is a flashback to the heady days of 2002.
One of several recently published images shows the pair recreating steamy scenes from the Jenny from the Block music video. In it, Affleck affectionately caresses his then fiancée, now reunited partner’s, bottom.
The photos, originally published on celebrity news website TMZ last week, soon flooded social media, gripping the nation in nostalgia and intrigue.
Observant viewers also noticed a photographer on-board capturing the moment the pair got close and personal on their yacht’s deck.
The event just goes to highlight the lasting power that the couple, formerly known as Bennifer, really has. The stars captured the attention of fans, the media, and people worldwide.
Tabloid ‘dream pairing’
The new fascination with Bennifer: the sequel, reflects the standing and special place of the couple when they first dated. Lopez and Affleck got together in 2002, at a time when print press still influenced celebrity culture, and tabloid media was at its height. They were a “dream pairing” of celebrity power couples in the noughties. Gossip columnists and photographers could not get enough of the duo. At the time, both celebrities were riding their own individual waves of success that held interest from the media.
Fresh from her successful number one debut album, Lopez sustained a career in Hollywood alongside her music. Highlights of her acting career included starring in romcoms The Wedding Planner and Maid in Manhattan. Displaying her versatility, she also appeared in horror film The Cell and crime thriller Out Of Sight.
Meanwhile, Affleck was equally in demand. At the age of 25, he became the youngest ever screenwriter to win an Oscar, for Good Will Hunting. He then starred in a number of successful movies, including Shakespeare in Love and Tom Clancy’s The Sum of All Fears. In December 2002, he also clinched the title of “Sexiest man alive” at People Magazine.
Fans went wild for the sexy A-list celebrity couple, who were both at the height of their fame. There was plenty of interest from people wanting to know about their private lives, and wanting to see photos of them.
‘Excessive media attention” took its toll
The high profile couple played on their popularity for two years, crafting their image from the voyeuristic media tryst they helped create on the music video for Jenny from the Block.
In November 2002, Affleck proposed with a custom-made pink diamond ring, fuelling more photos. This included the scene caught by paparazzi which the couple replicated last week.
However, the intense spotlight, along with critical panning of the couple’s below par rom-com Gigli, eventually took its toll. In September 2003 they postponed their wedding due to “excessive media attention”, separating in January the next year.
In 2018, Lopez said her and Affleck “didn’t try to have a public relationship, we just happened to be together at the birth of the tabloids”. At the start, they may have played up to it “because it was fun”. But ultimately it ended up destroying them. “It was a lot of pressure”, she adds.
Different times
It was a “different time” back in them days. The press liked to build people up, just to watch them fall. The term “be kind” was certainly not a thing.
Twenty years later, at a very different time, amid a worldwide pandemic, the revival of their relationship symbolises a potentially repaired love story, and a longing for past comforts.
During times of crisis, human response is always to crave familiar things, which is true of this pandemic.
The reuniting of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck gives hope and excitement that a happy ending is possible. It is exactly what a lot of people need right now.
It is quite fitting that the public saw the news via a pop culture reference to a video from the couple’s heyday, instead of through Lopez’s official Instagram posts.
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