After weeks of rumors about surreptitious meetings in a white SUV, the news broke Monday that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck — the once white-hot couple and glittering tabloid spectacle known as Bennifer — had rekindled their romance after 17 years with a weeklong vacation in Montana.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith, who directed the couple in his film “Jersey Girl,” eagerly claimed credit for coining the Bennifer moniker, as if it were a lifesaving vaccine.
For those of you who have forgotten the details or were too young to be aware of them at the time , here’s a brief refresher: Affleck and Lopez fell for each other in 2002 on the set of the misbegotten stinker “Gigli.” By July, Lopez announced her plans to divorce husband No.
Then, days before Lopez and Affleck were set to say “I do” at a lavish ceremony in September 2003, the couple postponed their wedding, citing the overwhelming media frenzy.
Part of the exuberance about their reunion is the opportunity it presents for a do-over.
Affleck recently complained of the similarly sexist, racist coverage his ex-fiancée was subjected to throughout their relationship.
There were undoubtedly elements of bigotry and chauvinism to much of the original Bennifer backlash — especially to the idea that Lopez was a controlling, spoiled “diva” and a compulsive man-eater.
If you can watch the video for “Jenny From the Block” without cringing — especially the part where Affleck literally kisses his fiancée’s famous behind — you’re a better person than I.
And though Affleck has had a rougher go of it in the court of public opinion — see: the Sad Batman memes and the mockery of that back tattoo — he also has been bravely upfront about his struggles with alcoholism.
But the interview also felt like a welcome throwback: a prime-time special, hosted by a talk-show legend, watched by millions of people in real time, commercials and all.
Even though the days of Bennifer don’t seem that far away, at least for those of us over 30, the media landscape was radically different the first time around.
US Weekly, revamped as a celebrity tabloid under the leadership of editor Bonnie Fuller, was at the height of its power, with a circulation of 1.1 million.
Nearly two decades later, social media has not only reduced the value of paparazzi shots and given stars the power to control what the public sees of their private lives, it also has introduced a whole new breed of celebrity, the influencer.
Meanwhile, the erosion of broadcast and cable television and the simultaneous rise of streaming networks has led to more fracturing of taste, with viewers encouraged by the algorithm to hole up in their increasingly narrow cultural silos.
Meredith Blake is an entertainment reporter for the Los Angeles Times based out of New York City, where she primarily covers television.
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