Jennifer Lopez has opened up about her past abusive relationships in which she hit rock bottom in her emotional new documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told.
The 54-year-old singer, who is married to 51-year-old Ben Affleck, said: “There have been people in my life who said 'I love you' and then didn't do things that were in any way consistent with the word love.”
“You have to reach that rock bottom where you find yourself in situations that are so uncomfortable and painful that you end up thinking, 'I don't want this anymore.'”
The star – who did not reveal who had abused her in the past – said she felt like she was “seeing through the fog” as she tried to get out of the “difficult” situation.
The turning point came when a therapist asked her how she would deal with an abusive situation that happened to her daughter – and the star said: “It was so clear.” I would tell her to get the hell out of here and never looking back, but for me it was so unclear and complicated.
Jennifer Lopez has opened up about her past abusive relationships in which she hit rock bottom in her emotional new documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told
She said, “It's no fun being thrown around and abused like that.” I mean, I've never been in a relationship where I was beaten, thank God, but I've definitely been abused and a few other unsavory things experienced. Rough. Disrespectful'
“It's no fun being thrown around and abused like that.” I mean, I've never been in a relationship where I was beaten up, thank God, but I've definitely been abused and experienced a few other unsavory things. Rough. Disrespectful.'
Jennifer has twins Max and Emme (16) with her ex-husband Marc Anthony. She was previously married to Ojani Noa and Cris Judd.
The star has had high-profile romances with Diddy, Alex Rodriguez and Casper Smart in the past.
According to People, J-Lo also revealed that Affleck was “hesitant” to appear in her documentary while attending a recent screening at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.
The star said it was “very scary” making the candid documentary, saying: “The other scary part was that I included my husband, who was kind of a reserved participant, silent participant and stuff.”'
“I just said to him in one part of the movie, 'Is this weird?'” He goes, “Yeah.” I said, “You're crazy.” I told him he was crazy, not me. But I know I'm crazy. I understand that part.
“But I really feel like as an artist you have to be vulnerable.” Even when you're playing a role, you have to get to the real parts of yourself and share what it's like to be human. And that’s a scary thing.”
“I think people would think I'm so used to being in front of a camera and I'm pretty comfortable with that, and that's true. “I'm comfortable with that. But when you share your feelings with others, you don't have a script that you read and play a character in, or a song that you wrote that is sung out into the world. But you just live your life and really share your deepest thoughts because that's what you have to explore to tell that story and do what you want to do. That was very scary for me.
J-Lo also revealed that Affleck was “hesitant” to appear in her documentary (pictured together in February 2024).
The star – who did not reveal who had abused her in the past – said she felt like she was “seeing through the fog” as she tried to get out of the “difficult” situation
“It wasn't my idea to photograph every single moment. To be honest, as we started making the movie, it got more and more bizarre and my husband, who was actually the lead in the whole thing, was the one who said, “We should capture this,” and he has this great one Team put together and that’s how it happened.”
Jennifer emotionally recalled calling off her marriage to Ben Affleck in 2004 when they first met.
The new documentary follows the singer during the making of her latest album, This Is Me… Now, and her twenty-year journey to “self-love.”
Jennifer and Ben were famously engaged in the early 2000s before splitting up, only to reunite – and later marry – in July 2022.
Their first two-year romance caused a great stir and the intense scrutiny of their relationship was difficult for the couple to endure.
Jennifer said, “Ben and I broke up three days before our wedding and we cracked under the pressure.” You think you're fine, so you shrug it off.
The On The Floor hitmaker also opened up about the pain she felt when the relationship ended.
She said: “I was heartbroken when I lost the love of my life, my best friend, and I couldn't speak for so many years and that was the hardest thing.”
The star shares twins Max and Emme with ex-husband Marc Anthony (pictured in 2009)
“I used to think everyone else was broken, now I think it was just me.”
The couple's love story began in 2002 when they met while filming the film “Jersey Girl.” They got engaged the following year but separated in 2004.
But it was meant for the couple, who go by the common name Bennifer, who got back together in July 2021 and married just a year later.