'Behind Closed Doors': How one movie nearly ruined the lives of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez
'Jennifer Lopez: Behind Closed Doors', a documentary hosted by journalist Natalie Morales, is a revealing, in-depth look at the multi-talented pop icon's life and career, and featured plenty of interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of J Lo, plus interviews with people who had closely worked with her in the industry and knew her well.
One of the big things the documentary focused on was the rise and fall of "Bennifer" - the highly publicized romance between JLo and Ben Affleck - back then, they were one of the biggest A-list power couples, and the tabloids just couldn't get enough of them. He was an Oscar-winning screenwriter and actor, and she was an established triple threat in the entertainment industry as a talented dancer, singer, and actress.
They'd infamously met on the set of the comedy movie 'Gigli' in 2001 - little did they know that the very same movie that brought them together would also, ironically, be the biggest reason that their relationship fell apart. When they met while filming the movie, J Lo was still married to choreographer Chris Judd, but she couldn't resist Affleck's charms and fell hard for the 'Good Will Hunting' star.
In the fall of 2002, after a whirlwind romance, Affleck proposed to Lopez with a jaw-dropping 6.1 carat Harry Winston pink diamond ring, and they were busy planning their upcoming marriage while juggling their careers and happy life together.
However, things were getting difficult for Ben and Jen - every single move of theirs in public was followed by the paparazzi, and they were being hounded at all hours of the day by the unrelenting media. Their relationship was one of the first highly publicized romances in the Internet era - even though this was before the advent of social media, they were still subjected to an intense level of scrutiny that eventually took its toll on them.
Their comedy 'Gigli', released in 2003, was immediately made the subject of much ridicule - it had plenty of bad press and troubled test screenings, and the majority of reviews were brutal. It was being called worst films ever made - even though it was supposedly a comedy, it was borderline offensive, boring, and unfunny. It was also savaged at the 2004 Razzies - the Oscars for bad movies - and swept the awards for Worst Movie, Worst Director, Worst Actor, Worst Actress and Worst Screen Couple.
Having such a terrible box office bomb on their resumes nearly killed both the careers of Affleck and Lopez. Suddenly, the tide had turned - tired of all the media frenzy surrounding them, Hollywood and the worldwide public was now fed up with them. People didn't want to see them onscreen together - and eventually, offscreen as well.
Jen and Ben's wedding had been scheduled just a few weeks after 'Gigli' premiered. But after all the negative reviews and furor that surrounded them for their supposedly terrible movie, Bennifer decided to call off their engagement, deciding to take stock and lay low for a while, unable to deal with the media scrutiny any longer.
And then sadly, four months after postponing their wedding - they decided to break up for good. In hindsight, theirs was the right love, but at the wrong time. No relationship could have survived that tabloid storm and frenzy, and plenty of celebrity couples have been doomed by the tabloids since then - Bennifer was just the first of many high-profile casualties.
Lopez herself admitted that she had lost her bearings after her first real heartbreak . "I lost my sense of self, questioned if I belonged in this business, thought maybe I did suck at everything." She added, "And then my relationship self-destructed in front of the entire world." Well, at least Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez both turned out all right... it could have been much worse - 'Gigli' worse!