J.Lo Gives $2.5 Million Sparkler Back to Ben

ByABC News
March 10, 2004, 8:41 PM

March 18 -- While Ben Affleck sat for interview after interview promoting his new film, Jersey Girl and dishing on the Bennifer bust-up Jennifer Lopez, 34, made a public statement of her own.

On March 8 in Miami, while dining on sushi at the Shore Club's Nobu, Lopez and her new leading man, Marc Anthony, 34, couldn't keep their hands, or their lips, off each other. (Interestingly, Lopez and Affleck publicly kicked off their romance with a liplock at Nobu in New York City in 2002.)

"They were making out in front of everyone," a witness tells Us. "It was impossible not to notice them."

In case there was any doubt, less than two months after her split from Affleck, 31, Lopez is making it clear she has moved on and this time, it's final. A source tells Us that Lopez, in her ultimate farewell to the relationship, has decided to return her much-talked-about $2.5 million, 6.1-carat pink diamond Harry Winston engagement ring, closing the door on any possible reconciliation.

"She plans on quietly giving the ring back," a Lopez insider tells Us. "She's not doing this for the media. She's doing it for closure. It's the relationship's death certificate. He has demons that will never go away."

And yet, the actress who has only communicated with Affleck via e-mail and letter since the split isn't quite ready for a face-to-face meeting with her ex (she skipped the star-studded New York City premiere of Jersey Girl, in which she has a minor role as Affleck's doomed wife). A source tells Us now that she'll recruit a neutral intermediary to hand-deliver the bling. (It's not the kind of thing you'd UPS.) "The breakup is still really raw for her," the source says. "I wouldn't call them friends at this point." Is It Right?

So is Lopez doing the right thing? Etiquette experts say an ex-fiancée, no matter how jilted, is expected to return the ring. (Affleck, says a source, never asked for it back.)