Jennifer Lopez Took Ben Affleck's Name for 'Tradition and Romance'

In a new interview, Jennifer Lopez said she took Ben Affleck's last name after their recent marriage for "tradition and romance."

The singer-actress made the comments in a Vogue cover story published on Tuesday while discussing how she rekindled her relationship with the Justice League star.

The remarks came when an opinion piece from The New York Times was referenced that expressed Lopez was not representing feminism by legally taking Affleck's last name. In the story, novelist Jennifer Weiner called Lopez's name change following the July nuptials "dispiriting."

"People are still going to call me Jennifer Lopez. But my legal name will be Mrs. Affleck because we're joined together. We're husband and wife. I'm proud of that. I don't think that's a problem," Lopez told Vogue.

When asked by the magazine about the possibility of Affleck taking her last name, she laughed off the suggestion.

"No! It's not traditional....It feels like it's a power move, you know what I mean? I'm very much in control of my own life and destiny and feel empowered as a woman and as a person," Lopez said. "But if you want to know how I feel about it, I just feel like it's romantic. It still carries tradition and romance to me, and maybe I'm just that kind of girl."

Lopez and Affleck first began dating in 2002 and became engaged later that year. However, their wedding was postponed in 2003 before they officially split in early 2004. In the nearly 20 years they were apart, Affleck married actress Jennifer Garner and had three children, while Lopez wed singer Marc Anthony, who fathered her teenage twins.

The romance between Lopez and Affleck was rekindled after they both found themselves single in 2021, she told Vogue. Lopez had recently called off her engagement to retired baseball star Alex Rodriguez, while Affleck had just broken up with his girlfriend, actress Ana de Armas.

In a cover story for InStyle published in April of 2021, Affleck joined bold-faced names like Michelle Obama, Matthew McConaughey and Donatella Versace in praising Lopez's impact on culture.

"She remains, to this day, the hardest-working person I've come across in this business," Affleck said.

Lopez told Vogue that Affleck emailed her to give her a heads-up about his comments, which led them to talking again. Soon, they were meeting again in person.

"Obviously we weren't trying to go out in public," she told the magazine. "But I never shied away from the fact that for me, I always felt like there was a real love there, a true love there. People in my life know that he was a very, very special person in my life. When we reconnected, those feelings for me were still very real."

Newsweek reached out to Lopez for comment.