What Jennifer Lopez's Husbands And Ex-Boyfriends Have Said About Her

Jennifer Lopez is, undeniably, a global superstar. And for good reason. Although she first made a name for herself as a dancer and actor, Lopez — or, as she's affectionately known to fans, J. Lo — has also built a tremendously successful singing career. She's also fronted global campaigns for major fashion brands, debuted her own beauty line, and basically inspired the launch of Google Images (for that, internet users can thank the now-iconic green Versace dress she wore to the Grammys in 2000). In between all that, Lopez — if you can believe it — has also found time to, well, find love. Then find it again. And, guess what? Find it again.

To that end, while there is still a lot fans don't know about Jennifer Lopez (after all, celebrities do like to keep some things private), one thing is for certain: she knows how to romance. Looking at the timeline of Jennifer Lopez's many relationships, you'll see she's been married four times (and engaged even more times than that), to celebrities including Ben Affleck and Marc Anthony. Pretty major, right?

Given her many romantic connections, it's no wonder that Lopez's former flames have had a lot to say since they've split up, much like anyone else who has an ex (or two, or three, or four). Luckily for J. Lo, most of what's been shared by her exes has been relatively positive. Again, pretty major. With that in mind, here's everything that the "Jenny from the Block" singer's ex-partners have revealed about her, starting with husband number one.

Jennifer Lopez met her first husband, Ojani Noa, in the late '90s when he was a waiter at a Cuban restaurant in Miami. The pair tied the knot in 1997 and were married for 11 months before they officially split in January 1998. Although things initially remained amicable between Lopez and her first husband, their connection turned sour over the years. She sent him a cease and desist letter over a mockumentary he was making, while he threatened to release intimate — but not "sexual," per CBS — footage from one of their vacations.

Given the arguable animosity between Lopez and Noa following their split, it's perhaps no surprise that he gave some less-than-favorable comments to the Daily Mail in 2022 when she reconciled with Ben Affleck (more on that relationship later). "I wish her and Ben the best, but I'm not convinced it will last," Noa said. "Jen loves being in love but she's been engaged six times. Ben is husband number four. I was husband number one and she told me I was the love of her life. When we lay in bed on our wedding night, she said we would be together for ever [sic]."

Despite his hesitations about Affleck, Noa reflected fondly on his time with Lopez, which although only lasted two years romantically, spanned nearly a decade as friends. "There were many times I felt like Mr Cinderella," he recalled. "She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen."

After splitting from Ojani Noa and briefly dating Sean Combs, Jennifer Lopez met backup dancer Cris Judd in 2000. Just months after meeting on the set of her "Love Don't Cost a Thing" music video and embarking on a romantic relationship, the pair married in September 2001 ... but their whirlwind romance was over almost as quickly as it began. By July 2002, the duo had already filed for divorce.

Unlike Noa, who told the Daily Mail in 2022 it was "too painful to talk about" his split from Lopez for decades, Judd was more open about the end of their marriage. Speaking to Us Weekly in 2014, Judd described how much his privacy was breached due to Lopez's megastar status. "It's very tough," he said. "You're no longer a normal person." To that end, Judd branded his and Lopez's wedding — which saw several people arrested while trying to sneak in — a "circus."

While that sounds chaotic to say the least, Judd admitted that the lack of privacy in his and Lopez's relationship wasn't the ultimate cause of its breakdown. "Unfortunately, it just didn't work out," he explained. Judd didn't stop there, however. He hinted that Lopez didn't put the work in to make their marriage last ... and even suggested that it's an ongoing issue for her. "I can't give you the answer as to why her relationships don't work," the dancer said. "Everyone has baggage and problems. It's whether you want to deal with those problems. When you sign up to get married, you can't just walk away."

In 2001, while Jennifer Lopez was still married to Cris Judd, she met Ben Affleck on the set of "Gigli." By the end of 2002, the A-listers were engaged, and Bennifer was born. Alas, Lopez and Affleck's first go-around didn't last. They were forced to postpone their nuptials multiple times due to media frenzy, and ended up splitting in 2004.

That wasn't the end for Bennifer just yet, however. Affleck and Lopez reconciled in 2021 and went on to tie the knot ... twice! In July 2022, they got hitched in Las Vegas, followed by a lavish wedding ceremony in Georgia the next month. But once again, Bennifer fizzled out before our very eyes. Two years after their wedding(s), Lopez filed for divorce, with a source telling People, "She tried really hard to make things work and is heartbroken." So, what did Affleck have to say?

Well, as it turns out, Affleck has nothing but love for Lopez in the wake of their divorce. In his 12-page wedding vows, which Lopez shared in her "On The J. Lo" newsletter (via E! News), Affleck said, "This is heaven. Right Here. We're in it now." Seemingly, that bliss carried through, despite their split, as he shut down claims there was any bad blood in their breakup. "There's no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue," he told GQ. To that end, Affleck and Lopez are still close. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2025, he described his ex as "spectacular" and praised their ongoing friendship. "She's [an] enormously important, tremendous person [with] a lot of integrity who I adore and am grateful to," he went on.

Jennifer Lopez met husband number four, Marc Anthony, all the way back in 1998. But it wasn't until her first split from Ben Affleck that the pair's friendship became romantic. Perhaps that was written in the stars all along, though. In her 2014 memoir, "True Love," Lopez recalled that, during their initial encounter, Anthony stated, "One day, you're going to be my wife." 

In 2004, Anthony did indeed make Lopez his wife, and four years later they welcomed a set of twins. But, once again, it wasn't to be, and the couple separated in 2011. Like Affleck, Anthony shut down salacious rumors about his and Lopez's divorce. "It wasn't something sensationalistic," the salsa artist told ABC News in 2011. "It wasn't shocking. These things happen."

While Anthony and Lopez's split was not sensational, he firmly believes that she is. In 2021, the musician had plenty of praise for the mother of his twins, especially regarding her artistry. "She's the first one in the room and the last to leave. The hardest worker I've ever met," he told InStyle. "I learned so much from her. She's the original!"

Following her split from Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez had an on-again-off-again romance with backup dancer Casper Smart (who was nearly two decades younger than her), which lasted for a few years in the mid 2010s. "She's sweet, funny, easygoing, and gracious," Smart said of Lopez when they were still an item, per Hola!. "You can't ask for anything else. She's beautiful."

As beautiful as Lopez was — and still is! — things didn't work out for her and Smart. According to an insider who spoke to People in 2014, the duo's relationship was "a fun fling" that was "not meant to turn into anything more," a sentiment he later echoed. "I was single, she was single. It started out as flirting, then became more than flirting," he said in an interview with Univision (via Hola!). "There was a connection ... there was chemistry." Their first split took place in 2014, but they got back together only to end things for good in 2016.

Despite their final breakup, which Smart admitted was in part due to his immaturity — he described himself to Univision as "very young and selfish" — he still regards Lopez highly, and considers her a friend. "Jennifer is, like, phenomenal, phenomenal, phenomenal," he told Us Weekly in 2017.

Once Jennifer Lopez and Casper Smart finally ended their on-again, off-again relationship, the "On the Floor" singer reportedly had a brief fling with Drake. In 2016, the pair sent the internet into overdrive with a series of social media posts that hinted they were dating. On top of that, in December of that year, Drake was spotted in the crowd supporting Lopez at one of her "All I Have" Las Vegas residency shows.

Of their rumored romance, an insider told E! News at the end of 2016 that Lopez was "having fun" with the rapper. But just months later, the "Hustlers" star came out to put the claims to rest herself. "Let me clear this up," she said on "The Daily Show" (via Teen Vogue). "I am not with Drake."

That might have been Lopez's statement, but what has Drake said about her? Well, like many artists, Drake channeled his emotions into his work, dropping several musical references to his apparent ex. In his 2017 track, "Free Smoke," Drake rapped about drunk texting his ex. Elsewhere, on "Diplomatic Immunity," he compared his split from Lopez to losing a "halo" — you know, because it rhymes with J. Lo.

A year on from her rumored romance with Drake, Jennifer Lopez's love life was at the center of speculation once again. In 2017, fans suspected that she'd started dating former baseball player Alex Rodriguez, and this was later confirmed, with a source telling People that Lopez was "excited" about the romance. After two years of dating, Rodriguez popped the question in 2019, and although he and Lopez quickly set about planning a wedding, the COVID-19 pandemic put a pause on things.

Unfortunately, that pause ended up being pretty (read: very) permanent. Lopez and Rodriguez did not walk down the aisle together, and split in 2021, telling Today in a joint statement that they were "better as friends." Amicableness aside, the split must have hit hard for Rodriguez, given that he'd long since dreamed of falling in love with Lopez. In an unearthed interview from 1998 (via Entertainment Tonight), the sportsman defined Lopez as his "dream date." Decades later, during an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," he described meeting the singer as "the luckiest day" of his life.

Despite the rumors surrounding Lopez and Rodriguez's relationship, they've reportedly remained on good terms. In 2022, shortly after Lopez and Ben Affleck rekindled their love, Rodriguez opened up to Martha Stewart on "The Martha Stewart Podcast." During that chat, he said he had "no regrets" about how everything shook out in the wake of his split. In fact, the former Yankee only had glowing things to say about his ex. "She's the most talented human being I've ever been around, hardest worker, and I think she is the greatest performer, live performer in the world today that's alive," he told Stewart.