Jennifer Lopez canceled her “This Is Me … Now” tour less than a month before it was scheduled to begin.
The singer wrote in her newsletter that it was “absolutely necessary” for her to call off the shows. Concert promoter Live Nation said Lopez needs time off to be with her “children, family and close friends.”
The tour was in support of her 2024 This Is Me … Now album — her first in a decade — and the self-funded movie that accompanied it. Some of her new songs addressed her rekindled relationship with her husband Ben Affleck 20 years after they called off their first engagement.
Since the album came out, there have been reports that the tour was struggling to sell tickets and reports that Lopez and Affleck were living apart amid marital strife. It’s unclear whether Lopez’s tour cancellation has anything to do with her marriage, but there’s no denying that the project itself is inextricably linked to their romance. Affleck said he’s not always comfortable being portrayed as her muse.
We’ll look back on their relationship, Lopez’s latest release and how her tour ultimately fell apart.
2002-2004: Bennifer 1.0
The Gigli costars began dating in 2002 and got engaged the same year. They postponed their engagement three days before the wedding in September 2003 and officially split in early 2004.
They’ve both spoken about how their relationship was deeply impacted by their presence on the covers of tabloids. Even 20 years later, it seemingly still is.
2021: Bennifer 2.0 begins
Lopez confirmed that she had rekindled her relationship with Affleck in July 2021, and they got married in Las Vegas in July 2022.
“The catalyst for [our first breakup] was this massive scrutiny for our private life,” Affleck explained in the documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told. “I had a very firm sense of boundaries initially around the press. While Jen I don’t think objected to it in the way I did, I very much did object to it. Getting back together, I said, ‘Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media.’ Then I sort of realized it’s not a fair thing to ask.”
Feb. 15, 2024: Lopez announces ‘This is Me… Now: The Tour’
While promoting her This is Me… Now album and film, Lopez announced on Today that she’d be going on tour the following summer.
“We’re hitting all the cities all across the United States,” Lopez said. Orlando was set to be her first stop.
Feb. 16, 2024: Lopez releases This is Me… Now
Two decades after her album titled This Is Me … Then, Lopez decided to “tell the truth” about her past relationships. A movie titled This is Me … Now: A Love Story accompanied the album, and she spent $20 million of her own money to bring it to life.
“It’s meta,” she told Yahoo Entertainment ahead of the project’s release. “It’s not autobiographical, but it’s definitely inspired by events of my life and of other people’s kind of journeys that I’ve watched. But it’s definitely the story of a hopeless romantic’s journey through life and their search for love. That really kind of sums it up in a way, and there’s definitely things from my life that are infused and inspired in the story.”
Some of the songs are about Affleck, such as “Dear Ben, Part II,” but she also revisited failed relationships and past abuse.
The film is “certified fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 75%, but it received scathing reviews from Vanity Fair and IndieWire.
Feb. 27, 2024: The Greatest Love Story Never Told documentary comes out
Less than two weeks after her self-produced album and film came a documentary about their production: The Greatest Love Story Never Told. The documentary got its name from a book that Affleck made for Lopez containing “every letter and every email” they wrote to each other between 2001 and 2021 “and counting.”
“I did really find the beauty and the poetry and the irony in the fact that it’s the greatest love story never told,” Affleck told the cameras. “And if you’re making a record about it, that seems kind of like telling it.”
Though Affleck has said he doesn’t want to stop Lopez from creating the art she wants to, Lopez said that “doesn’t mean he’s kind of comfortable being the muse.” He was surprised to hear that Lopez let songwriters read the personal letters between them as inspiration for her new album.
“Jen was really inspired by this experience, which is how artists do their work,” Affleck shared. “As a writer-director I certainly do the same things. But things that are private I had always felt are sacred and special because, in part, they’re private. So this was something of an adjustment for me.”
Lopez’s Monster-in-Law co-star Jane Fonda questioned if the singer was “trying to prove something” by making the vanity project about her relationship with Affleck instead of just living their lives.
March to April 2024: Lopez cancels tour dates and rebrands tour as ‘This Is Me … Live: The Greatest Hits’
The singer removed tour stops in Nashville, Atlanta, New Orleans and several other cities between Aug. 22 and Aug. 30.
Some reports suggested that the tour stops were removed due to low ticket sales, but Lopez’s team stated it was a “logistical error,” according to People.
Around the same time, the tour as rebranded from “This is Me … Now: The Tour” to “This Is Me … Live: The Greatest Hits.” There were no changes made to the set list, and the tour was always intended to be a celebration of her career rather than her last album, Entertainment Weekly reported.
May 2024: Lopez and Affleck face rumors of a split
Rumors of marital strife began to swirl in early May, when Affleck attended Tom Brady’s May 5 Netflix roast alone. The next day, Lopez arrived at the Met Gala by herself.
On May 15, the tabloid In Touch reported that the couple was “headed for a divorce” and living apart. The next day, People magazine confirmed that 47 days had passed since they had been photographed together. Hours later, they attended a school event for one of Affleck’s children together — both wearing wedding rings. Us Weekly reported that they are “having issues” within their marriage but have not yet split.
People reported on May 22 that their marriage is “not in the best place” and they’re still living apart, citing differing personalities and what they share about their lives together as a major issue. The same day, Lopez shut down a question about her relationship at a press conference for her new movie, Atlas.
A source close to Lopez told People on May 28 that they’re still living separately. “She’s back in L.A. for tour rehearsals. She seems OK. She’s very focused on work,” they said.
May 31, 2024: Lopez’s tour officially gets canceled
Lopez shared news from concert promoter Live Nation on May 31 that her summer tour, set to begin in Orlando on June 26, “is canceled.” In her newsletter, she said she was “completely heartsick and devastated.”
“Jennifer is taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends,” the announcement stated. There was no mention of Affleck or their relationship.
