Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez announce breakup

The two confirmed the news on Thursday.

April 15, 2021, 9:17 AM

Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez have split.

The chart-topping artist, 51, and former professional baseball player, 45, shared a statement announcing their breakup and wishing "the best" for one another on Thursday.

"We have realized we are better as friends and look forward to remaining so," they said in the statement, shared exclusively with NBC. "We will continue to work together and support each other on our shared businesses and projects. We wish the best for each other and one another’s children. Out of respect for them, the only other comment we have to say is thank you to everyone who has sent kind words and support."

The news of their breakup comes after the former couple previously shot down rumors last month that they split.

“All the reports are inaccurate. We are working through some things,” the pair said in a statement to ABC News in March.

The former couple began dating in 2017 and got engaged in 2019.

They often shared photos of their blended family throughout the course of their relationship: Lopez has two children, 13-year-old twins Emme and Max, from her previous marriage to singer Marc Anthony, and Rodriguez has two daughters, Natasha, 16, and Ella, 12, from his previous marriage to Cynthia Scurtis.

Earlier this year, Lopez revealed she and Rodriguez were forced to postpone their wedding twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We had planned what we really, really wanted to do, [but] I don’t know if we’ll be able to re-create that," she told Elle in January. "We canceled it, and since then we haven’t really talked about it. There’s no rush. We want to do it right when we can do it.”

Lopez also revealed in March that they were attending couples therapy during the pandemic.