Kevin Smith admits his heart is broken by Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck divorce

The marriage breakdown of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck has hit filmmaker Kevin Smith hard - and he is struggling to process the news.

The 54-year-old director had huge respect for the marriage of Ain't It Funny singer Jenny, 55, and Daredevil actor Ben, 52 - who tied-the-knot in 2022. The couple famously dated from from mid-2002 to early 2004 and reconciled decades later in 2021 and their fairytale romance appeared to be unbreakable.

The couple swapped vows in Las Vegas in July 2022 and held a lavish celebration for family and friends the following month. But the love was not to last, and the couple revealed they had filed for divorce in April this year.

Director Kevin has been left reeling by the relationship breakdown and says his own heart has been broken by the sad news. Kevin and Ben have been long-term collaborators - as the actor has featured in the films Mallrats in 1995, Chasing Amy in 1997 and Dogma in 1999.

READ MORE: Budget Garmin alternative will only set you back £60 - and it tracks your fitness goals

Opening up to People magazine, Kevin described Ben as: "One of my favorite people on the planet." And added that JLo is: "Wonderful too." He then said: "And if they're not going forward, that breaks my heart and stuff, but I've always adored him."

According to the Daily Mail, friends of JLo are desperate for her to take some time for herself rather than ploughing on in her search for lasting love. A source told the outlet in August: “After four failed marriages, her friends feel that she should take a look inside and focus on herself instead of what others want her to be and finally figure out who she is and what she wants from her future."

They continued: “Jennifer said she was tired of being humiliated by Ben and she waited until the two-year anniversary because she wanted to sting. But it did not sting him. He’s been done for a long time and deep down she knows this. He let her have this so that she wouldn’t look like the villain.”

Earlier this year, Amazon Prime aired a big budget movie made by JLo that highlighted her struggles with romance. Titled This Is Me... Now: A Love Story, and with an accompanying album, Jen revealed she splashed $20 million (£15 million) of her own cash on the vanity project.

While promoting the project, Jennifer reflected on the reason her romance with Ben collapsed the first time back in 2004. She told Variety: “Our relationship crumbled under the weight of the pressure. We lost a sense of ourselves, and we needed to separate because we didn’t know how to survive it. I had to figure myself out, and he had to figure himself out.”

And addressing her multi-billion dollar project itself, she laughed: “Everybody thought I was crazy. And by the way, I thought I was crazy.” The album associated with the project, titled This Is Me... Now, was a critical and commercial flop and a planned tour, titled This Is Me... Live, was cancelled amid reports tickets struggled to sell.

Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , and Threads.