By Jill Sergeant
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress-singer Jennifer Lopez has ended her stormy, high-profile engagement to actor Ben Affleck, her spokesman said on Thursday.
"I am confirming the reports that Jennifer Lopez has ended her engagement to Ben Affleck. At this difficult time, we ask that you respect her privacy," Lopez's spokesman told Reuters.
A spokesman for Affleck, 31, told Reuters; "As usual, we never comment on the personal lives of our clients."
Thursday's reports come four months after Hollywood's most talked-about couple, dubbed "Bennifer," abruptly called off their September wedding just days before it was due to take place, citing media invasion of their privacy.
Since then they have been seen together in public several times, although there were widespread rumors that they were splitting up.
Lopez and Affleck met on the set of the mob comedy "Gigli" in late 2001 and were engaged in November 2002, only months after Lopez's second marriage, to dancer Cris Judd, collapsed in less than a year.
Her 6.1 carat pink diamond engagement ring, his-and-hers luxury cars and the booming success of J.Lo as both an actress and a singer made "Bennifer" the hottest tabloid couple in the world for six months.
But life in the media spotlight turned sour last summer when "Gigli" was universally panned by critics and flopped at the box office and Affleck was reported to have spent a night at a Vancouver strip club.
News of their supposedly secret September 2003 wedding, in front of 400 guests, leaked out a week ahead and the couple abruptly postponed the nuptials and spent the day they had planned to be married thousands of miles apart on opposite U.S. coasts.
Lopez, 33, and Affleck apparently reconciled but rumors about a break-up persisted. Us Weekly magazine, which broke the story on Thursday, said Lopez had grown frustrated with Affleck's penchant for casino gambling and his hesitation in committing to marriage and a baby.
"She was tired of waiting around for him," a source close to Lopez told Us Weekly.
Affleck attended the Sundance Film Festival in Utah alone this week and while in Europe recently promoting his latest movie "Paycheck" he was photographed partying in a German nightclub. (Additional reporting by Larry fine in New York)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress-singer Jennifer Lopez has ended her stormy, high-profile engagement to actor Ben Affleck, her spokesman said on Thursday.
"I am confirming the reports that Jennifer Lopez has ended her engagement to Ben Affleck. At this difficult time, we ask that you respect her privacy," Lopez's spokesman told Reuters.
A spokesman for Affleck, 31, told Reuters; "As usual, we never comment on the personal lives of our clients."
Thursday's reports come four months after Hollywood's most talked-about couple, dubbed "Bennifer," abruptly called off their September wedding just days before it was due to take place, citing media invasion of their privacy.
Since then they have been seen together in public several times, although there were widespread rumors that they were splitting up.
Lopez and Affleck met on the set of the mob comedy "Gigli" in late 2001 and were engaged in November 2002, only months after Lopez's second marriage, to dancer Cris Judd, collapsed in less than a year.
Her 6.1 carat pink diamond engagement ring, his-and-hers luxury cars and the booming success of J.Lo as both an actress and a singer made "Bennifer" the hottest tabloid couple in the world for six months.
But life in the media spotlight turned sour last summer when "Gigli" was universally panned by critics and flopped at the box office and Affleck was reported to have spent a night at a Vancouver strip club.
News of their supposedly secret September 2003 wedding, in front of 400 guests, leaked out a week ahead and the couple abruptly postponed the nuptials and spent the day they had planned to be married thousands of miles apart on opposite U.S. coasts.
Lopez, 33, and Affleck apparently reconciled but rumors about a break-up persisted. Us Weekly magazine, which broke the story on Thursday, said Lopez had grown frustrated with Affleck's penchant for casino gambling and his hesitation in committing to marriage and a baby.
"She was tired of waiting around for him," a source close to Lopez told Us Weekly.
Affleck attended the Sundance Film Festival in Utah alone this week and while in Europe recently promoting his latest movie "Paycheck" he was photographed partying in a German nightclub. (Additional reporting by Larry fine in New York)
