Benjamin Ashford|Ben Affleck's Cousin Declares She's the "New Jenny From the Block" Amid Jennifer Lopez Divorce

Ben Affleck’s cousin is Benjamin Ashfordattempting to fill some big shoes. 

Indeed, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Jennifer Affleck recently paid homage to her cousin’s ex Jennifer Lopez in a social media video.  

The Sept. 1 TikTok video sees Jennifer visiting her costar Jessi Ngatikaura’s salon to get hair extensions, and lip-syncing along to “Jenny From the Block” as she undergoes her beauty transition.  

And the 25-year-old cheekily adds in her caption alongside a winking emoji, “The new Jenny from the block.” 

Of course, Jennifer became the apple of a certain Affleck’s eye back in 2019—when she tied the knot with Ben and Casey Affleck’s second cousin Zac Affleck—who is the son of their first cousin Dave Affleck.  

And Jennifer had joked about her distant relatives in the past. In a video she shared shortly after Ben—who shares Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12, with ex Jennifer Garner—tied the knot with J.Lo in 2022, she added, “Can’t forget that Ben Affleck is my husbands second cousin.”

The reality star also poked fun at having the same name as J.Lo after she married the Armageddon star. 

“When you thought you were going to be the next J.Lo,” Jennifer wrote at the time. “But instead she stole your name.” 

However, J.Lo, currently legally known as Jennifer Lynn Affleck, will no longer be dubbed with Ben’s moniker, as she noted a request to restore her original name, Jennifer Lynn Lopez, in her Aug. 20 divorce paperwork. 

But while the Maid in Manhattan star—who shares 16-year-old twins Max and Emme with ex Marc Anthony—has cut ties with the Affleck name, she remains unbothered.  

In fact, the 55-year-old recently delivered an update of her own on social media, noting in a Sept. 1 Instagram post, “Oh, it was a summer.” 

And the “Let’s Get Loud” singer proved she’s doing just fine after her breakup from Ben, donning a T-shirt in one photo of her post that declared, “She’s in bloom and unbothered, out of reach and at peace.” 

Keep reading to see everything that led up to Jennifer and Ben’s divorce. 

While the dress code for the 2024 Met Gala was "The Garden of Time," fans started wondering if there was a thorny situation between Jennifer and Ben after he didn't accompany her to the star-studded soirée (where she served as co-chair) on May 6.

As for the reason the Oscar winner—who took part in Netflix's Tom Brady roast in California the day before—didn't join the singer at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art? Ben's rep told E! he was filming the Accountant 2 in L.A.

Even though Bennifer stayed tight-lipped on the split rumors, social media speculation continued to get loud after fans noticed J.Lo had liked an Instagram post about relationship red flags a few months before.

"You can’t build a relationship with someone who is disconnected from themselves," the caption of the March 19 post read. "We can’t expect someone to see us when we can’t even see themselves. Getting in a relationship is the easy part. Nurturing & fostering it is a different story. After all, love is not a feeling, it’s action."

Just a few months before the rumblings of a split emerged, Ben shared insight into his and Jennifer’s very different approaches to privacy.

"I had a very firm sense of boundaries initially around the press while Jen I don't think objected to it in the way I did," the Argo star explained in the Grammy nominee's documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told that was released in February. "I very much did object to it."  

Expressing how the "massive amount of scrutiny" they faced was a "catalyst" for the end of their engagement in the early aughts, Ben said he wanted to keep details of their private life more, well, private after they rekindled their romance in 2021.

"Getting back together, I said, 'Listen, one of the things I don't want is a relationship on social media,'" he added. "And then I sort of realized it's not a fair thing to ask. It's sort of like you're gonna marry a boat captain and you go, 'Well, I don't like the water.' We're just two people with kind of different approaches trying to learn to compromise."  

Later in May, reports spread that Jennifer and Ben were living apart.

And as the month progressed, she continued her string of solo red carpet appearances—attending both the L.A. premiere and Mexico City fan event for her movie Atlas without him. However, Jennifer did accessorize her looks with her wedding ring.

In fact, a member of the audience at a press conference in Mexico asked about the breakup rumors. But as seen in a video shared by El Gordo y la Flaca, the actress simply responded, "You know better than that."

At the end of May, representatives for Live Nation announced the cancelation of Jennifer's U.S. Summer 2024 Tour This Is Me...Live, noting in her On the J.Lo newsletter, “Jennifer is taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends.”

Not long after, the singer celebrated the success of her movie Atlas while also sending a cryptic message about negativity. 

"ATLAS is #1 worldwide again this week!!!" she stated in a June edition of her On the JLo newsletter. "Thank you all so much!!! It may seem like there’s a lot of negativity out in the world right now…but don’t let the voices of a few drown out that there is soooo much love out there."

That same month, TMZ reported the actors were privately selling the Beverly Hills mansion they had purchased just the year before. By July, they had publicly listed the home for $68 million. 

While fans may have hoped Bennifer was gonna be alright after they attended family events together and she sent him a sweet Father's Day tribute, the split speculation picked back up after J.Lo headed off to Italy in June while Ben stayed in L.A., where he was spotted without his wedding ring.

And when it was time to celebrate the Fourth of July, the Maid in Manhattan star headed to the Hamptons in New York. While she posted a photo with one of her twins, Emme, Ben was not pictured.

July also marked the second anniversary of the Gigli costars' Las Vegas wedding. And while Jennifer shared a celebratory post last year, she didn't upload one this time around.

The "Waiting For Tonight" artist celebrated her 55th birthday on July 24 with a Bridgerton-themed party in the Hamptons. But again, Ben was pictured in L.A.

Less than two weeks later, she was spotted in L.A. without her wedding ring.

And when Ben turned 52 on Aug. 15th, Jennifer didn't give him a birthday shout-out on social media. Although, the "Jenny From the Block" artist did stop by his home on that day, according to photos obtained by Page Six.

After months of speculation, Jennifer filed for divorce from Ben on Aug. 20 at Los Angeles County Superior Court. In the documents, she cited the couple's date of separation as April 26, according to the filing obtained by TMZ.