Jennifer Lopez reflects on life, growth, Ben Affleck divorce at Las Vegas residency

WASHINGTON: Singer and actor Jennifer Lopez reflected on her personal journey and past relationships, including her divorce from actor Ben Affleck, during the opening night of her Las Vegas residency, Up All Night at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, according to People.

Lopez spoke candidly to the audience about how her life has changed since her last Las Vegas residency nearly a decade ago at Planet Hollywood’s Zappos Theater.

“It’s such a huge honour to be asked back. Do you know that it’s been 10 years, 10 years since my last residency here. Almost 10 years to the day. It was in January. That went by in a blink, didn’t it?” she told the crowd.

Reflecting humorously on her personal life, Lopez joked, “And in that time, I’ve only been married twice,” prompting laughter from the audience. She quickly added, “That’s not true. It was only once. It felt like twice,” according to People.

She continued, “I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding. It’s over and we just… it’s fine,” before adding, “The good news is that I’m learning and I’m growing and we’re in our happy era. I’m in my happy era.”

Jennifer Lopez shares what’s up next on her career bucket list after her Up All Night Las Vegas Residency. pic.twitter.com/UgF4Y9lsiG

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Lopez previously dated Affleck from 2002 to 2004 after meeting on the sets of Gigli. The two rekindled their relationship in 2021 and married in July 2022. Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024, coinciding with the second anniversary of their wedding celebration in Georgia.

In a previous interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, Lopez described the breakup as transformative. “Because it changed me. It helped me grow in a way that I needed to grow,” she said.

Despite their separation, the former couple have remained on good terms. They reunited at the premiere of Lopez’s film Kiss of the Spider Woman, which Affleck produced, and were also seen shopping together in Los Angeles with Affleck’s son, Samuel, in December.

Affleck shares three children — Violet, 20, Seraphina, 16, and Samuel, 13 — with his former wife Jennifer Garner. Lopez, meanwhile, shares 17-year-old twins Max and Emme with her former husband Marc Anthony.

During the show, Lopez also reflected on her earlier divorce from Marc Anthony, crediting the experience with helping her grow personally and professionally.

“I do love to dance. And if you take anything away from this show tonight, I hope it’s this,” she told the audience. “It was after my third divorce that I really started getting good at it.”

She recalled advice from late author Louise Hay, who encouraged her to keep moving forward despite life’s hardships. “She said, ‘When you’re learning to dance and you get the steps wrong, what do you do?’ I said, ‘I just keep going until I get the steps right.’ And she said, ‘That’s right, Jennifer. Always keep dancing.'”

Concluding her message, Lopez said she hopes others continue to persevere through challenges. “No matter what life throws at you, you dance and you dance and you dance again and again,” she said, according to People. (ANI)