Even the Democratic National Convention is talking about Bennifer.
Two days after Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from husband Ben Affleck, Mindy Kaling took the stage at the 2024 DNC in Chicago on Wednesday and gave a special shoutout to Affleck, a fellow Massachussetts native.
“I love you, Massachusetts!” Kaling shouted to the crowd. “Everyone is always hating on us. But they just don’t get it. Go Sox! Go Jason Tatum! Ben Affleck, hang in there!”
“Dunkin’ Donuts is the best coffee in the world!” the “Office” alum added, referring to Affleck’s personal obsession and professional involvement with the coffee chain.
Kaling and Affleck, 52, are connected beyond both being from the same state.
Over 20 years ago, Kaling co-wrote and starred as Affleck in an off-Broadway play called “Matt & Ben.” In the 2002 project, Kaling and her co-writer and college best friend, Brenda Withers, pretended to be Affleck and Matt Damon when they were writing the script for “Good Will Hunting.”
Kaling’s comment about Affleck came in the aftermath of Lopez, 55, officially filing the paperwork to end her marriage to the “Air” actor.
The filing happened on the second anniversary of the pair’s second wedding ceremony, which took place in Georgia in August 2022. They initially tied the knot in Las Vegas in July 2022.
Lopez listed her and Affleck’s date of separation as April 26, 2024. That was less than two weeks before the Bennifer divorce rumors began when Lopez attended the 2024 Met Gala by herself.
The “Gigli” co-stars later listed their $60 million Beverly Hills marital home for sale. Affleck bought a $20.5 million Los Angeles mansion for himself, though he’s been living at a rental home in the Brentwood neighborhood of LA.
Lopez and Affleck first started dating in 2002 and got engaged shortly after. They split in 2004 but ended up reuniting in 2021 before getting married in 2022.
While they appeared to be a happy couple prior to the divorce rumors, Page Six reported Wednesday that their relationship issues actually began on their honeymoon in Lake Como, Italy.
“He was unhappy with paparazzi following them,” a source said about Affleck, adding that Lopez “is an international superstar, and he acted like it came as a surprise that they would be followed around.”
The insider claimed that when Affleck and Lopez weren’t in front of the cameras, “They would barely speak to each other during what was supposed to be the happiest time of their life. He sold her on him being a changed man, and that lasted a very short time.”
Affleck’s preference to be out of the spotlight was evident in Lopez’s recent documentary “The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” which offered insight into the couple’s dynamic from Lopez’s POV.
“I don’t think he’s very comfortable with me doing all of this,” she admitted in segment of the documentary. “But he loves me, he knows I’m an artist and he’s going to support me in every way he can because he knows he can’t stop me from making the music I made and writing the words that I wrote. That’s going to happen and he doesn’t want to stop me.”
Affleck previously explained his reservations about speaking of their rekindled romance before their 2022 marriage.
“One of the harder lessons that I have learned is that it’s not wise to share everything with the world,” he told the Wall Street Journal in December 2021.
