More than a year after Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez called off their two-year engagement and went their separate ways, she married Ben Affleck in a surprise Las Vegas ceremony. If these nuptials bothered A-Rod, 46, he didn’t look it in the first photos of the former New York Yankees star following J.Lo, 52, and Ben’s wedding. Alex spent Sunday evening (July 17) having dinner at Mr. Chow with his fellow baseball icon, David Ortiz. After dinner, Alex stood outside and chatted with an unknown person while waiting for his car. ‘
Alex and Jennifer began dating in 2017, making their red carpet debut as a couple at that year’s Met Gala. In March 2019, he proposed with a ring valued at $5 million. It seemed like these two were on their way to a “happily ever after,” but the COVID-19 pandemic postponed their 2020 wedding. In March 2021, there were reports of a breakup, but both A-Rod and J.Lo disputed and mocked the allegations of a split. However, in April 2021, the couple released a joint statement confirming the uncoupling.
“We have realized we are better as friends and look forward to remaining so,” the statement read. “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.” Shortly after the split, J.Lo reunited with Ben, 49, and the rest is history. Ben would propose to J.Lo in April 2022, while A-Rod returned to the bachelor’s life (where he endured some J.Lo-shaped teasing every once in a while.)
For “Bennifer” stans, the news of J.Lo and Ben’s July 16 wedding was a dream twenty years in the making. Jennifer went into detail about the whole Vegas wedding in her On The JLO newsletter published the following day. “Last night we flew to Vegas, stood in line for a license with four other couples, all making the same journey to the wedding capital of the world,” she wrote. “So with the best witnesses you could ever imagine, a dress from an old movie and a jacket from Ben’s closet, we read our own vows in the little chapel and gave one another the rings we’ll wear for the rest of our lives.”
