Jennifer Lopez Declared Her Name Would Be ‘Jennifer Affleck’ In 2004 Before Legal Change: Watch

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Jennifer Lopez is now legally Jennifer Affleck! The singer and actress, 52, took the name of her new husband Ben Affleck per a Nevada marriage license filed on Saturday, July 16 — and the new surname is exactly what she planned to do in 2003 during their initial engagement. Jennifer made the comment during an hour-long special she filmed with Ben at their rental home in the Deep Cove neighborhood of Vancouver to former Access Hollywood host Pat O’Brien.

“I wanna know, a week after you’re married, what will your name be?” Pat asked her as she whipped up a meal for Ben in the kitchen, rocking a blue velour tracksuit. At the time, the stars were both working in British Columbia, as Ben was filming Paycheck as she shot An Unfinished Life with Robert Redford. “Jennifer Lopez, but my name will be Jennifer Affleck, obviously,” she said to the host, adding that the legal name will also be on her stationary. “J. Aff…doesn’t quite the same ring to it, but…,” she then quipped, laughing at her potentially updated “J.Lo” nickname.

JENNIFER AFFLECK 😭😭😭😭pic.twitter.com/Rq0ABnzTI5

— a | JLoHalftime ♥️ (@jennyxblock) July 17, 2022

Ben and J.Lo have yet to have a big wedding celebration, however, the two are officially husband and wife just months after getting engaged! The Town actor proposed for the second time in April 2022 with a spectacular rare green diamond ring, estimated to be worth $5 million. Green is known to be her favorite color, and, as she’s previously said, a lucky one.

Jennifer also shared details about the romantic proposal to fans via her On The JLo newsletter. “Saturday night, while at my favorite place on earth (in the bubble bath), my beautiful love got on one knee and proposed,” she said. “I was taken totally off guard…and just looked in his eyes, smiling and crying at the same time, trying hard to get my head around the fact that after 20 years, this was happening all over again, I was quite literally speechless, and he said, ‘is that a yes?’” she wrote.

“I said YES, of course, that’s a YES. I was smiling so big, and tears were coming down my face, feeling so incredibly happy and whole. It was nothing fancy at all, but it was the most romantic thing I could’ve ever imagined,” she explained.

Jennifer and Ben initially met while filming Gigli in 2001, striking up a romance the following year. The media quickly dubbed the pair “Bennifer,” as the two became a media sensation mocked in her “Jenny From The Block” video. Ben popped the question the first time around in Nov. 2002 with a pink diamond, and the pair set a wedding date for Labor Day 2003. The wedding was postponed due to intense media attention, and the pair split in Jan. 2004. Much to everyone’s surprise, the pair reignited their romance nearly 18 years later in April 2021 — and have been going strong since.