Jennifer Lopez ‘Wants to Start a New Chapter’ After Ben Affleck Split: ‘Finally Ready to Move On’

Ben Affleck was already inside when Jennifer Lopez arrived. Dressed in a curve-hugging white outfit and sky-high heels, J. Lo stepped out of a chauffeured Range Rover on September 23 and made her way into the L.A. building where she and her estranged husband both have separate offices. They were joined by Laura Wasser, the Hollywood divorce attorney who is mediating their split following J. Lo’s August filing to end things with the Oscar winner she’s called “the love of my life.”

The first time J. Lo and Ben broke up — they called off their wedding in 2003 and parted ways in 2004 — her world fell apart. “It was the biggest heartbreak of my life,” she confessed in 2022, the same year she and Ben tied the knot after rekindling their storied romance. “I honestly felt like I was going to die.”

When their marriage broke down this spring, J. Lo found herself struggling once again. “It really did a number on her,” says a source. But in recent weeks, “friends and family have noticed a major shift — she’s finally ready to move on,” a source exclusively tells Life & Style. “She decided to do some introspection — she says four divorces will do that. Get ready for an all new J. Lo — she wants to start a new chapter.”

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She’s had to mourn her dreams of a happily-ever-after with Ben. “J. Lo was so in love with him and grateful for a second chance. She was all-in. She thought Ben was, too,” says the source, noting that the actor-director, 52, even had “not.going.anywhere” engraved on the 55-year-old’s engagement ring. “So she was heartbroken when it started to fall apart.”

As her relationship with Ben crumbled, she faced a growing career crisis. In February, J. Lo released three projects exploring her life as a serial romantic — an album, This Is Me… Now; a movie, This Is Me… Now: A Love Story; and a documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told — which she self-financed for $20 million.

Her album struggled to find an audience, selling only about 14,000 copies in its first week. And response was lukewarm for both the movie and documentary, in which Ben discussed their clashing feelings about privacy.

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“Getting back together, I said, ‘Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media,’” he shared in the doc, explaining, “We’re just two people trying to learn to compromise.”

Then in May, J. Lo’s sci-fi movie, Atlas, debuted to poor reviews. Days later, she canceled her summer concert tour, citing a need to “be with her children, family and close friends,” while reports alleged ticket sales were low.

Amid all the professional drama, her heart was shattering. She and Ben had quietly separated on April 26, and he’d moved out of their marital home to a rental. They spent the summer apart, and in August, J. Lo pulled the trigger on the divorce, marking a turning point, says the source, that allowed her to reflect and move on.

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“She’s been making candid confessions about Ben and his struggles, how they added to their problems,” says the source. With his history of alcohol abuse, “she didn’t want him to relapse so she was super overprotective. That backfired by making him resentful, adding more stress to their marriage. Now, Ben is panicking,” notes the source. “He’s afraid she’s sharing too much and is making him look like the bad guy in the relationship.”

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Following their split, J. Lo remained present for Ben’s three kids, Violet, 18, Fin, 15, and Samuel, 12, with his first wife, Jennifer Garner, 52. But Ben reportedly was not in contact with J. Lo’s 16-year-old twins, Max and Emme, whom she shares with her third ex-husband, singer Marc Anthony, 56.

That appeared to change when the exes reunited on September 14 to take all their children (except Violet, who just started college at Yale) to brunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Polo Lounge. “She feels a bond with his children and won’t walk away from them,” says the source. “Even though J. Lo is moving on, it’s very difficult to let go of the close relationships she’s formed.”

In 2019, J. Lo told GQ, “I don’t like to harp on the negative or feel sorry for myself.” She’s now following her own advice. “She’s determined to turn all this heartbreak into her superpower, to take ownership of any self-destruction and make changes,” says the source, “which is why she’s taking a break from men — a year off at least.” It’s not easy, adds the source, “but J. Lo is moving forward with a new outlook on life.”