Jennifer Lopez reacts to blunt comment about Ben Affleck divorce

Jennifer Lopez laughed off Craig Melvin‘s very direct line of questioning while promoting her new film Kiss of the Spider Woman.

The actress and singer appeared to be caught off guard during Monday’s episode of Today after interviewer Melvin bluntly noted that the filming the movie coincided with the finalization of her divorce from Ben Affleck, who executive-produced the musical, earlier this year.

Melvin said, “In the middle of filming this elaborate, beautiful musical, your divorce is also finalized with Ben—”

“There you go,” Lopez said with a laugh, cutting the host off mid-sentence.

Melvin continued, “Well, but—”

“Look at this guy,” Lopez once again quipped.

“But then I read that your ex is an executive producer on the film!” Melvin clarified.

“He is,” Lopez said. “If it wasn’t for Ben, the movie wouldn’t have been made and I will always give him that credit. You know, things happen.”

The movie, Lopez added, “is about escapism.” “It’s about how movies and art save us in the hardest time of our lives,” she said. “Doing this project was such a dream come true for me … it really got me through a moment that was really difficult.”

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Lopez and Affleck, one of the quintessential pop culture couples of the early 2000s, famously rekindled their romance in 2021 and wed the following year, two decades after breaking off their first engagement in late 2002. Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024, citing irreconcilable differences. The separation was finalized in January.

The two have spoken amicably about the split. Affleck said there was “no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue” behind the separation in conversation with GQ earlier this year. “The truth is, when you talk to somebody, ‘Hey, what happened?’ Well, there is no: ‘This is what happened,'” Affleck said. “It’s just a story about people trying to figure out their lives and relationships in ways that we all sort of normally do.”

Now, Lopez is once again courting Oscar buzz for her work in Bill Condon’s upcoming Kiss of the Spider Woman (out Friday), centered on two political prisoners (played by Diego Luna and Tonatiuh) who form an unlikely bond over a Hollywood musical plot starring the diva Ingrid Luna, played by Lopez.

Watch her interview with Melvin above.