Is there a winner in Bennifer’s divorce PR battle?

An occasion as seismic as Bennifer 2.0 might solely finish in a PR showdown. After months of breakup rumors, real-estate news, and a canceled tour, Jennifer Lopez lastly filed for divorce from her husband Ben Affleck on August 20, citing “irreconcilable variations.” That date additionally marks the second anniversary of their lavish marriage ceremony ceremony in Georgia. It looks as if this breakup isn’t only a unhappy affair however a bitter one, too.

Their antics within the press say as a lot. For those who take note of how celebrities use the tabloid press and their very own lore to form public opinion, a few narratives are forming. There are already numerous reports from unnamed sources alleging Affleck’s cold behavior towards Lopez, performing distant towards her whereas they supposedly tried to work by their points. In the meantime, Affleck has remained principally quiet, with sources claiming he desires a extra “civilized” divorce. Given the general public’s notion of Lopez because the extra attention-seeking associate of their marriage, that is almost definitely a PR technique of its personal.

From a publicity angle, it seems to be like Lopez has extra to lose. For a singer whose picture violently swings between Hollywood icon and superstar laughingstock, divorcing the so-called love of her life — additionally, the topic of her latest musical era, which was an epic failure — places her in a susceptible place but once more. We haven’t even gotten to the inevitable battle over cash, contemplating the previous couple wed reportedly and not using a prenuptial settlement. If the estimates tossed around for his or her web worths are true — and in case you can’t belief CelebrityNetWorth.com, who are you able to belief? — Lopez has considerably extra to lose than Affleck. She’s additionally forgoing authorized illustration, which looks as if a worse determination than a self-funded $20 million film.

Like most superstar divorces, mudslinging and tabloid leaks are baked into the method. Nonetheless, for 2 seasoned A-listers who’ve already skilled private {and professional} challenges within the limelight, one other media circus looks as if a waste of power. Past perhaps entertaining the general public, there aren’t any new stakes. The Bennifer drama forces us to ask the query: Does anybody win in a star divorce?

To date, neither celebration has commented instantly on the divorce (though a rep for Affleck shut down rumors that he was relationship RFK Jr.’s daughter Kick Kennedy). As a substitute, it seems that they’re letting anonymously sourced experiences and photographed outings create narratives for them. Many of the “sources” appear to be engaged on Lopez’s behalf, which isn’t a shock on condition that she initiated the divorce and appears, effectively, frustrated. It’s additionally notable that a number of of those exclusives are coming from Folks, a tabloid with a fame for working instantly with celebrities and their publicists. In the meantime, Affleck is seemingly making an attempt to keep away from wanting just like the “most divorced man,” a title he earned after his break up with Jennifer Garner in 2015. Days after Lopez’s divorce submitting, he was photographed selecting up a Jack within the Field supply at his new LA residence, a throwback to his days selecting up Dunkin’ Donuts in the course of the pandemic the place his relatable dad persona actually took form.

These accounts recommend that Lopez was uncared for by Affleck within the marriage and tried her finest to make issues work, a story that mimics the ending of their first go-around in 2001. Earlier this week, an unique from Folks mentioned that Affleck had not given her “any indicators that he desires to proceed their marriage.” (Courtroom paperwork revealed that the couple had been separated since April.) Likewise, a supply near Lopez advised the journal that the singer spent “a whole lot of time ensuring Ben was glad,” regardless of the actor being “moody and dark.”

One other narrative that appears to be taking form is that Lopez is making extra of an effort to handle their blended household amid the present chaos. That features Lopez’s twins Max and Emme, from her earlier marriage to singer Marc Anthony, and Affleck’s three kids, Violet, Fin, and Samuel, along with his ex-wife Garner, who all lived collectively of their former mansion.

The final time Lopez and Affleck had been spotted together was in June for Affleck’s son Samuel’s commencement, when rumors of a breakup first began to emerge. Since then, Lopez has been noticed or photographed on several outings with Max and Violet, together with a 4th of July trip to the Hamptons. (Folks famous that Affleck was again in LA on the time.) Most lately, the journal reported that Affleck “has not been in contact” with Lopez’s kids.

Whereas we haven’t been bombarded with claims about Lopez’s half of their demise or picture ops along with his kids, the truth that Affleck isn’t saying a lot, whereas permitting Lopez to make extra of a present out of their divorce, looks as if its personal technique, too.

Since their first breakup, Affleck has given the general public the impression that Lopez was extra snug within the limelight than him. It’s one thing he reiterates all through Lopez’s Prime documentary The Best Love Story By no means Informed, which premiered in February. The actor joked about Lopez’s impulse to publicize every part — together with the stack of affection letters he despatched her earlier than their 2021 reunion — however claimed that he was now prepared to sacrifice his privateness to be together with her.

Likewise, Lopez is portrayed as extra needy for public consideration, whereas Affleck is reluctant to take part in her tasks and public antics. The sheer quantity of paparazzi images of Affleck would instantly dispel this declare, together with these well-known pap walks along with his ex-girlfriend Ana de Armas in the course of the pandemic. Days after the divorce, Folks reported that multiple unnamed sources had advised the publication that Affleck, whose manufacturing firm Artists Fairness took on Lopez’s documentary, had artistic management over the venture.

Wanting again on the movie by this lens, you may see how devoted they each are to defending their picture, whereas additionally seemingly a bit clumsy at it. The documentary, which follows the behind-the-scenes making of Lopez’s visible album This Is Me… Now, is filled with humiliating and awkward (however extraordinarily amusing) moments that the common pop star these days wouldn’t dream of being broadcast. On the time, the documentary appeared just like the one saving grace in an period of misfires for Lopez, together with a low-performing visible album and a canceled tour. Nonetheless, memes about Lopez — together with a scene the place she’s mythologizing her childhood hairdo — took off, along with random clips of Lopez supposedly displaying diva habits.

Whereas Lopez struggled to make the general public care about her new music, she stored folks invested in her private life with Affleck. The odd-couple dynamic they portrayed within the movie was candy and admirable. Lopez was depicted because the outgoing associate with unrealistic ambitions, whereas Affleck seemed just like the pragmatic however doting husband who supported his spouse’s goals. A memorable scene within the documentary exhibits Affleck boosting Lopez’s confidence when she’s feeling uncertain in the course of the filmmaking course of. Now, it’s laborious to not surprise how a lot of this documentary components into Affleck’s seeming escape plan.

With new exclusives in regards to the particulars of their relationship arriving every day, it looks as if the couple could also be buckling up for a conflict which may depart each of their reputations just a little scathed. For now, although, the media circus principally feels gratuitous. However it’s type of a humiliating ritual that these two celebrities from the ’90s would default to.

For one factor, this isn’t the type of explosive divorce that’s instantly inciting followers to take sides. Some social media users are already calling BS on the narrative that Lopez was too public-facing for Affleck. However for essentially the most half, Lopez and Affleck are two sometimes-loved-sometimes-hated celebrities, whose reputations are continually in flux. Proper now, it doesn’t look like the general public at giant is leaping to demonize both of them. The truth that their romantic historical past is reportedly riddled with dysfunction appears to be what makes them relatable and simple to root for.

The divorce announcement itself additionally doesn’t appear that controversial. The main points being revealed presently aren’t that explosive, in addition to the suggestion that Affleck has dedication points. It actually isn’t something just like the years-long fallout between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie following their divorce, which includes home and little one abuse allegations and has left Pitt’s picture with a stain — even when he’s nonetheless booked and busy in Hollywood.

It’s laborious to think about these image-altering outcomes for Affleck merely for opting out of a wedding, even when the dissolution was as frosty on his finish as some shiny celeb weeklies have depicted it. And in any case, after all of the breakups and profession hits Lopez has skilled within the public eye, she has confirmed to be considered one of our most invincible celebrities. It’s all very predictable and never completely shocking — similar to in the event that they determined to get again collectively 20 years from now.