Jennifer Lopez reveals she told her twins they'd be 'stronger and better' after Ben Affleck split
revealed the 'promise' she made her two children following her very public split from Ben Affleck last year.
In an interview with El Pais, the actress and singer, 55, opened up about how she reassured her 17-year-old twins Max and Emme - who she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony - at the height of the drama.
She recalled: 'I said, "I promise you, this is a difficult time, but you're going to see that I'll come out the other side stronger and better." I promised them that and I did it. And they feel it now. That gives me a great sense of peace in my life.'
Now, Jennifer will be officially embarking on a summer tour, Up All Night: Live in 2025, where she plans to celebrate following years of growth.
She said: 'I'm happier that I'm a step further along than I was a year ago, two years ago, three years ago... I'm proud of myself for that and I'm proud that I was able to navigate my children through difficult times, that they're stronger and better because of it. So, it's a great time to go out there and dance and sing and have a good time with everybody,' she said with a smile.
Her tour will kick off this July and will see her perform in locations such as Egypt, Spain, Italy, and more.
'This is a perfect time. And I think the last perfect time was six years ago,' she said of the tour, intentionally leaving out This Is Me... Live. 'I only want to go on tour when we're going to celebrate. We're going to have a good time.'
This Is Me... Live was cancelled last year, with a statement revealing the star will be 'taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends.'
J-Lo, who the outlet noted not bring up Ben by name, rekindled her romance with the actor in 2021, shortly after splitting from Alex Rodriguez.
The couple, nicknamed 'Bennifer', were first set to tie the knot decades ago before going their separate ways after postponing their wedding.
They eventually found their way back to one another during the pandemic and tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2022 followed by a more lavish ceremony shortly after.
But over a year later, speculation abound that the couple were already on the outs, and Jennifer ultimately filed for divorce in August 2024. The marriage was officially over a few months later
It was a challenging time, and Jennifer found herself leaning on books, spirituality, and self-reflection to overcome the pain.
She said with a sigh: 'I had a really tough year. Unexpected things happened. And so, I read a lot of books. I did a lot of self-introspection. I did meditation. I prayed a lot. I wanted to improve my relationship with God. I wanted to kind of really solidify the family unit that is me and my two children, my twins.'
She added: 'Listening to other people who have been through similar experiences or different experiences than you, I think that's the thing I love most."'
Reading proved to be particularly helpful.
She said: 'I read a lot of books on childhood, marriage, relationships, different styles of love, the brain, science... And over the years, I've done individual therapy, couples therapy, family therapy. I've had everything, I'm always kind of searching.'
'I think it's all about learning about yourself. It's all about knowing yourself. You have to be ready for that. And you have to want it. And, even when you want it, it's hard to change certain things. But you can.'
Despite their split, Jennifer and Ben appear to be on okay terms these days.
Last month, Ben praised Jennifer for being 'spectacular' to his children.
The 52-year-old actor - who has three children, Violet, 19, Seraphina, 16, and Samuel, 13, with his first wife Jennifer Garner - still thinks highly of her.
Her children and his own kids joined him at the Los Angeles premiere of his new action film The Accountant 2 last month.
Speaking on the red carpet, Ben took a moment to praise J-Lo for maintaining a wonderful relationship with his kids, despite their split.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, he said: 'For the record, Jennifer Lopez is spectacular, great to my kids, great ongoing relationship with them.
'I love her kids. They're wonderful. She's [an] enormously important, tremendous person of a lot of integrity who I adore and am grateful to.
'I'm thrilled that the kids are here with me.
'The relationships that you can have with children like that, it's the joy of my life.
'And those kids are amazing, and I'm glad that this is a movie they want to come to.'
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The Independent
an hour ago
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
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Joining the veteran star, Gibson, 69 - Murtagh's unpredictable and highly volatile partner Martin Riggs - showed off an enormous, greying beard as he took to his seat at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during Saturday's expo. Gibson previously confirmed that long-time co-star Danny will make an appearance in the latest film, reprising his role as LAPD Sergeant Murtaugh. The Australian star also told how he asked for Glover's blessing to direct the movie following the death of director Richard Donner - who took charge of the first four films. A source said Gibson is pre-production on the new film, via TMZ The Braveheart star cut a casual figure during his latest outing The co-stars were onstage at a fan expo in Philadelphia, during which they fielded questions about the hugely successful Lethal Weapon franchise Reiterating his intention to direct the feature in 2022, Gibson told Entertainment Tonight: 'Yeah, I am directing that. I'm really looking forward to it.' The star went on to add that his place behind the camera was bittersweet following the death of Donner in 2021. He added: 'I wish I wasn't directing it. I wish Richard Donner was still here to do it but left us untimely, and he actually asked me, he said "Hey kid, if I don't make it, you'll take the reins, huh?" I told him to shut up. 'I think it's an honor for me to be able to carry the flag for him'. And after getting Richard's blessing, Gibson told how he then turned to Glover to ask his thoughts on him directing, also confirming that his former co-star had agreed to reprise his iconic role. Gibson added: 'I called Danny [Glover] up, of course, and said "Hey, dude, is it okay with you if I direct this?", to which Glover replied "Yeah, let's go". He also insisted on having complete faith in Glover, adding: 'I know Danny's going to pull it off real well, too. He's kind of like the show pony in this one'. Gibson made the big announcement about the new film in 2021, where he began his address by paying tribute to the filmmaker who had previously spearheaded the action-comedy franchise. Gibson featured in the Lethal Weapon movies as the unpredictable and highly volatile partner of the Donald Glover character Gibson also recalled that the filmmaker had given him his blessing to continue the series in the future 'The man who directed all the Lethal films, Richard Donner, he was a big guy,' he expressed. Gibson also recalled that the filmmaker had given him his blessing to continue the series in the future. He remarked that Donner 'was developing the screenplay and he got pretty far along with it. And he said to me one day, "Listen kid, if I kick the bucket you will do it." And I said: "Shut up."' Gibson then noted that the filmmaker made a point of telling various individuals that the actor was more than capable of keeping the franchise going after his death. 'But he did indeed pass away. But he did ask me to do it and at the time I didn't say anything. He said it to his wife and to the studio and the producer. So I will be directing the fifth one.' It's understood that plans to shoot the new film are now underway after years of delays, with original screenwriter Shane Black also onboard. The film franchise also spawned a TV series, which ran for three seasons for 2021 with Clayne Crawford as Riggs and Damon Wayans as Murtaugh.
