When Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez called off their engagement in 2021, we were surprised because all they ever showed us were the happy moments that they shared. But no one knows what happens behind closed doors. And something not so happy must have happened to them because On April 15, 2021, the former couple released a joint statement via the Today show saying they were calling it quits on their romance, but that they would continue to be friends.
More from MamásLatinas: A timeline of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's love story
Then in what felt like no time at all, Jennifer got back together with Ben Affleck and ended up marrying him. Breakups are hard and going through them publicly can't be easy, especially when your ex moves on so quickly. Still, A-Rod has been gracious about his ex-fiancée becoming Mrs. Affleck. It nice that he hasn't shown any ill will because he and Jennifer did share some lovely moments together. Let's take a look at the timeline of their relationship for old time's sake.
They first met when Jennifer was still married to Marc Anthony.
It was 2005, Jen was married to Marc Anthony and Alex was married to Cynthia Scurtis. They met at a baseball game where Marc Anthony was throwing the first pitch. There are even pictures of the event where you can see Jennifer, Alex, and Marc together.
Jennifer has described their first meeting as being electric.
"We shook hands, and it was this weird electricity for, like, three seconds," Jennifer said in the interview with Sports Illustrated. "Three to five seconds of looking at somebody right in their eyes, and getting stuck." But they were both married to other people, so that electricity just had to wait.
Then they saw each other again at the Beverly Hills Hotel in early 2017.
Then in 2017, they were at the same place, same time, and both single. As Jennifer told the story, Alex was talking to Michael Strahan and Jamie Foxx at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2017 and hadn’t noticed that she was there, so she walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. That led to them having dinner a few nights later.
A-Rod was kind of a mess on their first date.
According to Jen, Alex talked a lot during that date. She remembers him name-dropping, saying weird things you wouldn't say on a first date like that he’d never dated a Latina, and sharing that he’d never actually been in love. YIKES! “I realized afterwards he was a little nervous, saying all this stuff you would never say on a first date,” Jennifer said.
Then he went to the bathroom and did what?!
On that same date where he kept running his mouth, Alex stepped away to use the restroom and while he was in the restroom, he texted her “YOU LOOK SEXY AS [expletive].” That could have gone south, but…
Apparently, Jen liked the text.
He might not have been impressing her much with his conversational skills, but that text was enough to keep Jennifer interested. “Actually, it was good game, because it was very unexpected and it was super flattering,” she said. “I wasn’t dressed very sexy.” Like Jennifer is ever NOT sexy … puh-leaze!
One thing led to another, both romantically and commercially.
They didn't just go into a romantic relationship together, they started collaborating on business projects as well. “I’ve been in the public eye, I’ve navigated the media in a certain way, I’m creative and artistic and have all these skill sets,” she said. “He’s a business-minded guy who knows math and numbers and money and equity and all that stuff —like, EBITDA, right? What I was missing, he kind of had. And what he was missing, I had.”
The first big event they attended together was the Met Gala in May 2017.
The first time they went to a big event together was in May 2017 for the Met Gala. They had been seen out and about together, but this was like them saying that they were for sure a couple. They both looked great in all the publicity shots.
They are both parents and they started blending their families.
Alex has two daughters and Jen has twins. Their kids seemed to get along really well even early on in their relationship, and throughout the years that they spent together as a couple, they shared many pictures of their blended family lifestyle.
They got engaged in the Bahamas in March 2019.
On March 12, 2019, Alex shared a picture of himself, down on one knee in the Bahamas asking Jennifer to be his wife. "Locking it down. #futuremrsrodriguez," said the caption. They both seemed incredibly happy.
A day after their engagement, Jose Conseco accused Alex of being a cheater.
Jose Conseco, who like Alex is a former Major League Baseball player, tweeted that Alex was cheating on J.Lo with Jessica Conseco, Jose’s ex-wife. Jose was so committed to proving that his accusations were true that he also tweeted: “I am willing to take a polygraph to prove that what I'm saying about Alex Rodriguez is 100% accurate.” Jose’s bombshell did not manage to split Jen and Alex.
They never seemed in a rush to get married.
They were engaged for a long time and according to Jen, they had to postpone their wedding more than once in 2020. "We postponed the wedding twice. We had planned what we really, really wanted to do, [but] I don't know if we'll be able to re-create that," the Jennifer told Elle. "We canceled it, and since then we haven't really talked about it. There's no rush. We want to do it right when we can do it."
Jen also admitted they had gone to counseling.
In her February 2021 Allure cover story, Jen told the magazine that she and Alex had sought couples' therapy. "I think it was really helpful for us in our relationship," she said. She also said that they had hit the pause button on their wedding for the time being.
Then a hurricane of rumors hit.
In March 2021, rumors that the couple had broken up over a possible relationship between A-Rod and Madison LeCroy from the show Southern Charm started to swirl with hurricane force. Shortly after, Jen and Alex released a statement saying, "All the reports are inaccurate. We are working through some things."
Apparently, they just couldn’t work it out after all.
On April 15, the Today show shared a statement provided to them by Jen and Alex.
"We have realized we are better as friends and look forward to remaining so," the statement reads. "We will continue to work together and support each other on our shared businesses and projects. We wish the best for each other and one another’s children. Out of respect for them, the only other comment we have to say is thank you to everyone who has sent kind words and support."
And so, it’s official J-Rod are no longer romantically involved. Breakups are not easy, but we wish good luck to them both.
Jennifer ended up marrying Ben Affleck and Alex wishes them well.
Shortly after Jen and Alex broke up, Jen got back together with Ben Affleck. Jen and Ben became Mr. and Mrs. on July 16, 2022. When Alex was asked in an interview if it bothered him that Jen moved on so quickly after their breakup, all he had to say was "With Jennifer, look, it was a good experience. And I wish her and the children, who are smart and beautiful and wonderful—I wish them the very best."
