Did Ben Affleck Help Jennifer Lopez End Her Marriage to Marc Anthony?
Affleck reportedly e-mailed his support to Jennifer Lopez's mother.
July 21, 2011— -- Jennifer Lopez famously broke off her engagement with Ben Affleck shortly before she married Marc Anthony. Now it seems she may have turned to her ex-fiance as her marriage to Anthony was crumbling.
Us Weekly reports that Guadalupe Lopez, the singer-actress's mother, sought Affleck's advice on July 12, days after she accompanied her daughter to the BAFTA bash with Prince William and Kate Middleton in Los Angeles.
"Guadalupe reached out to Ben over email. She wanted advice for Jennifer," a source told the magazine. "She always liked and trusted him. [Ben] replied back on email, wished her well and offered what he could."
Three days after that reported email exchange with Affleck, Lopez and Anthony announced they were calling it quits after seven years of marriage.
"This was a very difficult decision," the couple said in a joint statement last Friday. "We have come to an amicable conclusion on all matters. It is a painful time for all involved and we appreciate the respect of our privacy at this time."
Lopez, 41, wed Anthony, 42, in June 2004, just months after she and Affleck split. Affleck, 38, is now happily married to Jennifer Garner, with whom he has two daughters.
Lopez and Anthony also have two children, 3-year-old twins Max and Emme.
This was her third marriage, and the second marriage for Anthony.
"This is a shocker for everybody. The last time most of us saw them together, they were doing an incredibly hot sexy performance on 'American Idol,'" People magazine assistant managing editor Julie Dam said last Saturday on "Good Morning America."
"When they got together we all thought this was going to stick because they have similar backgrounds. They have similar interests. They collaborated on music and movies and they of course have a reality show they just recently announced," Dam said.
However, there may have been signs of trouble.
Ian Drew, senior music editor of Us Weekly, said the couple's breakup wasn't a surprise.
"This has been sort of bubbling for a while. They've been in and out of counseling. You just basically have two very tempered, very in-control people. It just doesn't work," Drew said. "You usually need one person to be more aggressive and one person to be more passive.
"Both of them are very controlling," Drew said. "You can't control a controlling person. It didn't work with Diddy for the same reason. You just can't control Jennifer Lopez."
Lopez's role on "American Idol" and the success of her new album likely contributed to the breakup, he said. Lopez joined "Idol" this past season as a judge and released her latest album, "Love?" in May.
"Suddenly, he wasn't the one in control," Drew said. "For a while, they were on an even career path, but then she started becoming the more successful one. When they first got together, she was in a career low."
Us cites Anthony's raging jealousy over Lopez's career as a reason for the break-up, along with his compulsion to control everything from her business endeavors to her famous wardrobe, and, according to multiple sources, at least one extra-marital affair in 2009.
The magazine reported that Anthony's fling with a flight attendant he met aboard a private plane nearly cost him his marriage two years ago. "Jennifer was going to leave him then, but Marc begged her to stay. They went to marriage counseling and she decided to give it another shot. He was someone she truly loved," the magazine quoted an inside source.
But their marriage wasn't good and Lopez finally found the courage to end it, the magazine said.
A friend told Us that despite Lopez' public display of confidence, she actually has low self-esteem. "Marc really played into that insecurity," the friend said. "That's why she put up with his abuse for such a long time."
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