"Bennifer", a portmanteau, was the nickname given to the celebrity couple, Jennifer López and Ben Affleck by Affleck's friend, Kevin Smith. The couple, who met on the set of their mega-flop Gigli, received a great deal of media attention, similar to that experienced by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the 1960s.

Their relationship spanned eighteen months and included a much-hyped engagement, a 6 carat (1.2 g) Harry Winston diamond engagement ring, an aborted wedding, and a prolonged breakup, culminating in their split on January 20 2004, with both blaming media attention.

They extravagantly flaunted their love affair with public displays of affection and multi-million-dollar gifts, including Bentley cars and huge diamond rings. [1]

"Bennifer" is sometimes also used to refer to Affleck and his current wife, Jennifer Garner, though "Garfleck" and "Bennifer II" are also used. [2] Some media outlets referred to their first daughter, born November 30, 2005, as "Bennifer Jr." This trend of combining celebrity names has lead to other bastardized name combinations such as "Brangelina" and "Vaughniston".

Affleck and López met and fell in love on the set of the notorious box office bomb Gigli. In July of 2002, less than two months after López's split from second husband Cris Judd was announced, Affleck threw López a party for her 33rd birthday and presented her with a Harry Winston bracelet of yellow and gold diamonds. The name "Bennifer" appears to have been popularized by the director of their second film together Jersey Girl, directed by Kevin Smith. When Affleck proposed in the fall, he took her to his mother's Boston-area home, which was decorated with rose petals. López's music was playing in the background. He then began to read a letter detailing the reasons why he loved her before getting down on one knee and presenting her with the famous 6 carat (1.2 g), pink-diamond, engagement ring. [3]

The two were supposed to tie the knot on September 14 2003 on the California coast, but abruptly canceled their plans just days before the ceremony. Us Weekly had reported that the vows and reception would occur at Sotto Il Monte, a private $29 million estate in the Montecito area, near Santa Barbara, California. Guests, including Matt Damon, Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Alec Baldwin, and Britney Spears were set to be shuttled to the wedding from nearby resort hotels, the magazine reported. Despite the couple's efforts to keep the wedding under wraps by having vendors sign confidentiality agreements and refusing to tell the 400 guests the location of the event, details of the celebration began to leak at a breakneck pace. As news spread, hotel rooms in and around the usually quiet seaside town of Santa Barbara, California, were sold out as the media moved in.

Then, four days before the wedding, the couple confirmed they were delaying their nuptials and blamed their decision on the intense media scrutiny. In a joint statement, they said, "Due to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding, we have decided to postpone the date. When we found ourselves seriously contemplating hiring three separate 'decoy brides' at three different locations, we realized that something was awry. We felt what should have been a joyful and sacred day could be spoiled for us, our family and our friends." Insiders led ET to believe that López personally made the calls to advise guests, and was said to be very upset and difficult to understand through her tears. [4]

The tumultuous 18-month romance purportedly ended on January 20 2004, just three days after Affleck returned to Los Angeles from the Sundance Film Festival. The decision was reportedly mutual.

According to Us magazine, López was anxious to marry and start a family with the teetotal but hard-partying, gambling-loving Affleck, and was not thrilled when he was snapped on January 10 2004 with his close friend Matt Damon, surrounded by a bevy of beautiful women in a German nightclub. "She was tired of waiting for him to come around", a source told the magazine. [5]

• Gigli
• Jersey Girl

• They Ate Our Souls!: Bennifer 2