Why Ben Affleck Isn’t With Jennifer Lopez at the 2024 Met Gala

Jennifer Lopez is no stranger to attending the Met Gala, with or without her husband, Ben Affleck.

For Lopez’s big night co-chairing the 2024 event, Affleck chose not to join her and make their red carpet debut as a married couple. J.Lo arrived on her own, keeping the focus on her outfit: a form-fitting crystal Schiaparelli Haute Couture gown.

His rep explained his absence to E!, saying he is in L.A., where he has been shooting The Accountant 2.

Affleck was indeed photographed in Los Angeles on May 4 and 5:

Affleck skipping Lopez’s big night has nothing to do with their relationship though. It likely stems from his own preference for privacy over being in the sea of Met Gala red carpet cameras.

A source spoke to Entertainment Tonight last week about how privately supportive he is of his wife, adding that their marriage is going well.

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“Ben is 100 percent supportive of Jen and keeps it real with her,” the source said. “They both know this [negative comments about their work] is part of the business and remind each other that you can’t please everyone. They acknowledge what really matters, lift each other up, and encourage each other's talents and capabilities.”

As a couple, “Jen and Ben are doing well and are very happy together,” the source added. “Their kids bring them even closer together and keep them humble. Jen and Ben are supportive of one another and just want the best for their relationship and family.”

And Affleck himself spoke in Lopez’s documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, about how he has learned to compromise with Lopez on how public versus private their relationship is. His preference is to be private.

He explained, “When Jen and I broke up before, the catalyst for that was the amount of scrutiny around our private life,” he says. “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.’ And then I sort of realized it’s not a fair thing to ask. It’s sort of like you’re gonna marry a boat captain and like, ‘Well I don’t like the water.’ We’re just two people with different approaches, trying to learn to compromise.”