Jennifer Lopez is now Jennifer Affleck. Lopez and Ben Affleck surprised fans on Sunday after they announced that they have got married in a small ceremony in Nevada on Saturday. Lopez herself confirmed the news in a heartfelt edition of her own fan newsletter, On The JLo, which featured images and videos from the wedding.
However, it now seems that Jennifer, who adopted Ben's last name Affleck in accordance with records from the Clark County Recorder's Office, had been planning to alter her name for around two decades after marrying her longtime partner. That's true. A video filmed at least 20 years ago has resurfaced that shows Lopez saying that she wanted her legal name to be Jennifer Affleck after tying the knot.
Wish Comes True
The couple's marriage license in Clark County, Nevada, bearing their full legal names, Benjamin Geza Affleck and Jennifer Lynn Lopez, was originally revealed by TMZ on Sunday. And according to the license, the singer of "Get Loud" intends to adopt the "Good Will Hunting" actor's name as her own.
The name change has been in the making since the early 2000s, when Lopez and Affleck first became engaged.
In a recently discovered episode of Access Hollywood from roughly 20 years ago, Pat O'Brien persuaded Lopez, now 52, to admit that she intended to take the name Jennifer Affleck as her married name. The old video has resurfaced and is going viral.
In the video, Jennifer shows off her cooking prowess while giving O'Brien a tour of her house. The "Hustlers" actress is seen revealing that she would keep her maiden name as her stage name but take Ben's last name as her official identity.
O'Brien then asks about her intended marital name, to which she responds, "Jennifer Lopez, but my name will be Jennifer Affleck, obviously."
"So what will your stationary say?" he quizzes her.
"Jennifer Affleck," she replies.
Though the replacement isn't quite as catchy, the two had fun in the video finding out what her nickname would be if it weren't J.Lo. She adds, saying it as "J.Aff," pronounced "jaff." She adds with a shrug before giggling, " It doesn't have quite the same ring to it."
The video appears to have been shot after Ben proposed to Jennifer for the first time in November 2002. However, they broke up and reunited years later in April 2021 and announced their second engagement last spring.
On Saturday, they finally turned their 20-year romance into marriage.
No More Splitting
Hours after getting married, Lopez confirmed the news. She uploaded a video of herself looking stunning in her sleeveless white wedding dress. Additionally, she declared her marital status by signing off with a "I do" on her newsletter On The JLo.
The newsletter, which was addressed as "Mrs. Jennifer Lynn Affleck," candid photos of the newlyweds as well as a video of them getting ready for their big day, including one that showed Ben doing so in the chapel bathroom and images of J.Lo wearing her wedding gown.
"We did it. Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient," she wrote in her post.
The couple was slated to get married in September 2003, but they changed their plans just four days before the wedding. By January 2004, they had broken off their engagement and split.
On Sunday, they finally got back to be reunited forever. According to the Clark County Recorder's Office, the pop singer will change her name online to "Jennifer Affleck." However, the marriage certificate has not yet been submitted.
A source close to the on/off couple - who previously dated between 2002-2004 - confirmed to the site: "They did, indeed, get hitched and the license is a signal they are now man and wife."
"Jen and Ben got married in Vegas. They have so much fun together and thought this would be a fun idea too. Ben is absolutely in love with Jen and feels loved by her too. They both feel so comfortable with each other and like they share history and know each other so well," the insider told TMZ.
