'I was set up': Ralph Fiennes claims he was a 'decoy' for Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's romance in 2002
LOA ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Ralph Fiennes has shared an interesting story from the early 2000s when Jennifer Lopez And Ben Affleck were dating each other in secret. The 59-year-old actor recently made an appearance on ‘Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen’ where he spoke about the time he had dinner with Lopez in 2002, which he believes was a 'set up' to distract from the singer's budding romance with Affleck. At the time, the two were working together in ‘Maid in Manhattan’.
It was also reportedly the same time when the 53-year-old singer was in the process of divorcing her ex-husband Cristan Lee Judd. At the same time, Lopez was also secretly romantically involved with Affleck. When Cohen questioned ‘The English Patient’ star if he’s was used as a 'decoy' in Lopez and Affleck's romance, he answered, “I was, I was. Yeah, yeah, I was set up. I was asked out to dinner with JLo and her manager and her agent … We had a nice dinner, chatty chatty chatty. … [Afterward,] I think I was walking home, but [we gave each other a] peck on the cheek goodnight.”
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As per reports, when Fiennes and ‘The Boy Next Door’ actress were sharing a goodbye kiss, “a paparazzi - just one - pops out” and captured them. Referring to that, the British thespian stated, “But somehow, the pictures were angled so that as she's walking away, [it looks like] I'm walking after her. And I think it said the next day [in the New York] Post, 'It's Ralph!'”
However, Fiennes revealed that he is happy for Lopez and Affleck after they got back last year and exchanged vows in 2022. “My reaction [when I learned they got back together] was, 'Good luck to them,’” he added.
Lopez and Affleck got married in Las Vegas in July this year. After tying the knot, the ‘Marry Me’ singer reportedly wrote on her ‘On The JLo' newsletter, “Last night we flew to Vegas, stood in line for a license with four other couples, all making the same journey to the wedding capital of the world. Behind us, two men held hands and held each other.
“In front of us, a young couple who made the three-hour drive from Victorville on their daughter’s second birthday—all of us wanting the same thing— for the world to recognize us as partners and to declare our love to the world through the ancient and nearly universal symbol of marriage. We barely made it to the little white wedding chapel by midnight.”
“They graciously stayed open late a few minutes, let us take pictures in a pink Cadillac convertible, evidently once used by the king himself (but if we wanted Elvis himself to show, that cost extra and he was in bed). But in the end, it was the best possible wedding we could have imagined. One we dreamed of long ago and one made real (in the eyes of the state, Las Vegas, a pink convertible, and one another) at very, very long last,” she added.