Vanderpump Rules alum Stassi Schroeder is getting candid about people hating on Jennifer Lopez amid her divorce from Ben Affleck.
“I love J. Lo. I am inspired by J. Lo.,” Schroeder, 36, told host Amanda Hirsch on the Tuesday, October 1, episode of the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast while discussing the “Girl Boss” section in her new book, You Can’t Have It All.
When asked if she feels bad for “the hate she’s getting” amid her divorce, Schroeder replied, “Oh, 100 percent. Because I also think that Ben Affleck, he’s a major part of the problem. He could never just smile in a photo with her. He always had to make it look like she was making him [miserable].”
Noting that Affleck, 52, has been in the spotlight for decades, she continued, “You’re going on a red carpet – smile! Or don’t go on it. Because now the narrative is, like, when you see a photo, he’s miserable. And she’s not. And so of course, people are just going to go to, ‘J. Lo must be making him miserable,’ when it’s like…you know what, Ben? Just smile. Do her a solid.”
Hirsch added, “That actually really did break my heart because, say what you’re gonna say, but reuniting after 20 years with somebody that you thought was the one who got away, and it didn’t work the second time.”
Us Weekly confirmed on August 20 that Lopez, 55, filed for divorce in Los Angeles after two years of marriage. The singer listed the pair’s date of separation as April 26, and the paperwork was filed on the anniversary of their 2022 wedding at Affleck’s Georgia estate.
“It was more and more apparent they weren’t a good match,” a source exclusively told Us about how the couple tried to “make it work” by going to therapy. “It boiled down to [the fact that] they are two different people.”
The insider added, “She came to the realization things weren’t going to change and they were incompatible. Spending time apart — it became obvious it wouldn’t work.”
Lopez and Affleck began dating in 2002 after costarring in Gigli, and got engaged that year. However, they called off their wedding in 2003 due to heightened media attention, and later confirmed their split in 2004
Before reuniting in 2021, Lopez and Affleck each had their respective breakups and divorces.
The Hustlers star was previously married to Marc Anthony, whom she wed in 2004. The couple called it quits in 2011 and finalized their divorce in 2014. They share 16-year-old twins Max and Emme. She later moved on with MLB star Alex Rodriguez, however they called off their engagement in 2021 after four years together.
Meanwhile, Affleck tied the knot with Jennifer Garner in 2005. They were married for 13 years before finalizing their divorce and share three children: Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12.
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