As Jennifer Lopez continues to navigate the ending of her fourth marriage, this one to Ben Affleck, details from her past marriages have begun to unfold.
A resurfaced report about the singer’s marriage to her third husband and father of her twins, Marc Anthony, revealed that she realized that she had been abused in past relationships.
In her 2014 memoir “True Love,” Lopez wrote, “I’ve never gotten a black eye or busted lip, but I have been in relationships where I felt abused one way or another: mentally, emotionally, verbally.” She continued, “I know what it feels like for your soul to be diminished by the way your loved one is treating you.”
She and Anthony were married from 2004 to 2014, and she oddly compared them to the iconic duo Sonny and Cher.
It’s not clear whether Lopez was referring to her marriage with Anthony or another man from her past.
In the book, Lopez explained the moment when she admitted to her mother, Guadalupe Rodríguez, and her manager Benny Medina that things were not working out between herself and the four-time Grammy award winner.
At the time, she was preparing for a photo shoot but felt herself starting to have a panic attack. Lopez said, “As I sat there getting made up, my heart was beating out of my chest and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. … I became consumed with anxiety.”
She continued, “It was one of those moments when you’re so scared you can’t even scream. In a blur of fear and panic, I looked at Benny and my mother and blurted out the words: ‘I don’t think I can be with Marc anymore.’ Then I burst into tears.”
The former couple initially met backstage at Paul Simon’s 1998 Broadway show “The Capeman.” They dated briefly after that but Anthony went on to marry Miss Universe Dayanara Torres and Lopez married choreographer Cris Judd in 2001. After ending that marriage, Lopez began dating Affleck.
The two were engaged in 2002 but the couple split due to massive media attention surrounding their relationship by early 2004.
Later on that same year, Lopez and Anthony found their way back to each other and got married. But seven years and two kids later, Anthony and Lopez would find themselves ending things again, and in 2014 their divorce was finalized.
In a 2011 interview with ABC News’ “Nightline,” Anthony broke his silence on the announcement of their split.
He said, “It is sad because you think about the impact of all those people who believe in you. You think about your family and the possibilities, but we realized very early on that even though we’re not together, our story’s not over. There are things to do together; there is life to see together through Max and Emme. So it’s all good, man,” Anthony continued.
But he also credited the “Enough” actress for being the person she is.
“I’ll always love Jennifer,” he said. “She knows that; my kids know that. Jennifer’s a wonderful, wonderful woman, a wonderful mother, a wonderful friend.”
Lopez’s divorce from Affleck will be her fourth. Her first husband, Ojani Noa, has recently spoken up about the split, claiming he saw similarities between the downfall of their marriage and Lopez’s relationship with Affleck.
Jennifer Lopez and her first husband Ojani Noa, 1997 pic.twitter.com/oeC8gaE52O
— MIUCCIA TAM. (@kurisheeee) October 28, 2021
Noa sympathized with the fact that the “Daredevil” star is a private man. The invasion of that privacy by media — due to their celebrity status — is one of the reasons he and Lopez did not work out the first time and had to call off their engagement.
Noa told the Daily Mail last month, ‘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. 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.”
After claiming he will always be friends with Lopez, Noa offered the “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” singer some advice.
“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.”
