J.Lo Says She ‘Shoulda Done It Sooner’ — and She Quietly Covered Her Ben Affleck Tattoo Too

Jennifer Lopez has two ways of communicating where she stands post-Ben Affleck: a late-night interview and a very subtle Instagram slide. She used both this week. On Wednesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where she appeared to promote her new film Office Romance, Kimmel asked about her relationship status. Her answer was cheerful and immediate. “Yes!” she said of being single. “I shoulda done it sooner! I’ve been doing it all wrong. I’ve been doing it all wrong, trust me,” per Just Jared.

Then came the tattoo. J.Lo posted a Memorial Day Instagram carousel captioned “Spending the day with the people I love” — mostly photos with friends and her 18-year-old son Max. In the eleventh slide, her side is visible and the Ben Affleck tribute tattoo she debuted in 2023 — an ink piece marking their first Valentine’s Day as a married couple — appears to have been covered or altered. She didn’t address it directly, but eagle-eyed fans and outlets noticed immediately, per People.

The Bennifer Epilogue

Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024 — pointedly, on what would have been the second anniversary of their traditional Georgia ceremony — and it was finalized in January 2025. The two had originally been engaged in the early 2000s before splitting in 2004, then reunited in 2021 to considerable public fanfare and married in Las Vegas in July 2022. The arc from reunion to divorce covered just over three years. Her current framing — single, self-possessed, and saying she should have gotten here sooner — is about as clean a closing statement as the story is going to get, per Hello Magazine.