'Crazy' detail from Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's divorce

For all Bennifer fans like me, our hearts broke with the news that Jennifer Lopez had filed for divorce from her husband actor, Ben Affleck. And she's submitted the paperwork on the day of their second wedding anniversary no less (ouch).

Like some sort of rom-com that you could envision Lopez starring in herself, the rekindled romance of the star couple back in 2021 after 17 years apart, was a dream come true for romance and early naughties fans alike. Originally dating in the early 00s, the pair became engaged and were planning to wed in 2003 but called it off and subsequently split, but remained on good terms.

So, in 2021 when rumours of their love flame rekindling began, Bennifer 1.0 fans held their breath with the desperate, romantic-filled hope that perhaps love could conquer all for the couple and that we’d see Bennifer 2.0 - a love for the ages – born.

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While an appreciation for the couple (and love, in general) motivated much of this "dream", arguably so did the pandemic.

During a period when most of us were struggling, isolating, or scrounging for toilet paper, living vicariously through others via our screens was a great escape and a love story of second chances provided us with good news amongst the mountain of death rolls and outbreaks.

Bennifer seemed to prove love could overcome the odds

As the celebrity-studded fairytale came to life in front of our very eyes (or screens), with Bennifer going Instagram official in July 2021, quickly becoming engaged and finally making it down the aisle in 2022 it proved that love and second chances could overcome the odds - and that we shouldn't give up on love.

Even Lopez’s mentor and friend, icon Jane Fonda agreed, telling Variety “I believe that everyone in the entire world is pulling for this relationship and this love.”

And we were. At least until today.

The rumours that Lopez and Affleck were having marital problems have been swirling now for months - a lack of sightings of the pair together, including over their subsequent birthdays, and putting their marital home up for sale - being some of the key signs a divorce announcement was impending.

While a public announcement hasn’t been made by either Lopez or Affleck, in the US court system, where Lopez filed for divorce, the document - once filed - essentially becomes public property.

First reported by TMZ, the news promptly found its way into the headlines of many other major media outlets all across the globe and along with it, into Bennifer 1.0 and 2.0 fans’ social media feeds.

“J Lo filed legal docs Tuesday in LA County Superior Court, but they were not filed by a lawyer. Jennifer filed pro per, meaning by herself and without an attorney. She lists the date of separation as April 26, 2024. The couple got married in Las Vegas on July 16, 2022 ... however, today, August 20, is also very significant in Bennifer lore,” TMZ says.

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Fans devastated by divorce news: 'Depresses me'

With this, the sounds of shattering hearts could be heard far and wide and the belief that love really could conquer all, well it too was broken into pieces.

“It actually happened,” one user posted on Reddit. “Jennifer Lopez filed."

"Damn. I thought those crazy kids were going to make it,” someone posted on X.

Others shared how saddened they were by the news with one fan saying that the news "depresses them."

While many hopeless romantics and Bennifer fans were devastated about the split, others have also expressed different reactions.

The news, not surprising for many, resulted in a barrage of quips.

Like this one sarcastically feigning extreme shock:

And this one - conveying how "stunned" the poster was by the news:

Others have been left unimpressed by Lopez’s choice of date to file with one user remarking: “Filing for divorce on your wedding anniversary is crazy”.

Whether it's "crazy" or not is not really for us to say, but what's certain is that it is the end of an era...yet again.

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