What Went Wrong with Bennifer 2.0? A Deep Dive Into the End of Hollywood’s Most Iconic Love Story

What went wrong with Bennifer 2.0? Was it always destined to end like this, after two years of marriage and months of gossip? Will these two ever get back together? Who the heck is going to buy their marital home for $68 million? These are the questions that have been plaguing me for the past few weeks. I don’t really have answers to most of them, but the tabloids are working overtime to provide some context for the first one. The anonymous sources are coming out of the woodwork to explain what exactly went wrong here, and they all seem to be Team J.Lo.

“Page Six” reported that Bennifer’s marital woes went all the way back to their honeymoon, on which the couple were hounded by photographers in Lake Como, Italy. “He was unhappy with paparazzi following them,” a source explained. “She is an international superstar, and he acted like it came as a surprise that they would be followed around.”

“They would barely speak to each other during what was supposed to be the happiest time of their life,” the source continued. “He sold her on him being a changed man, and that lasted a very short time.”

The New York Post also went back in time, returning to The Greatest Love Story Never Told, the companion documentary to Lopez’s This Is Me … Now film. In the doc, Lopez reflected on Affleck’s discomfort with some of her artistic choices. “I don’t think he’s very comfortable with me doing all of this,” she said. “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 … He wants to do that [for me], but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable being the muse.”

Elsewhere in the documentary, Affleck is captured realizing that Lopez is sharing his private love letters to her with a team of musicians. “I did really find the beauty and the poetry and the irony in the fact that it’s The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” he said to camera. “If you’re making a record about it, that seems kind of like telling it.”

On August 20, TMZ reported that Lopez had filed for divorce without a lawyer. (The New York Post later reported that Lopez cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.) As part of its reporting, TMZ noted that the couple had been working toward a settlement for months and that the discussions had grown acrimonious. According to the outlet, the couple have still not reached an agreement.

A source told People that Lopez was “done waiting” when she decided to file on the second anniversary of their Georgia wedding ceremony. “She tried really hard to make things work and is heartbroken,” the source said.

Another source told the tabloid that Lopez is ready to “move on” from the relationship. “She’s very disappointed and sad, but Ben hasn’t given her any signs that he wants to continue their marriage.” TMZ added to the “moving on” angle when they reported that Lopez had requested to drop Affleck’s last name (she was legally Jennifer Affleck) and have her maiden name restored.

In the rare Lopez-critical comment, a source told the Daily Mail that the singer’s friends want her to do some self-reflection. “After four failed marriages, her friends feel that she should take a look inside and focus on herself instead of what others want her to be and finally figure out who she is and what she wants from her future,” they said.