Jennifer Lopez’s Ex-husbands, Boyfriends and All The Men She Dated in The Past

Since making her Hollywood debut, Jennifer Lopez has dated many men. Among them are David Cruz (1984 to 1994), Wesley Snipes (1995), Sean “Diddy” Combs (1999 to 2001), and Ben Affleck (2002 to 2004). That’s not all, the “Ain’t Your Mama” singer has also dated Beau “Caper” Smart (2011 to 2016), Maksim Chmerkovskiy (2014), Drake (2016 to 2017), and Alex Rodriguez (February 2017 to March 2021). 

Getting to know who is best for one as a life partner may not come easy at times. While some give up after trying a few times, some other die-hard individuals fight till they get the perfect fit. And judging by the above list, it’s obvious that multi-Grammy award winner Jeniffer Lopez belongs to the latter group. In addition to the men she has dated, he has also been married several times. Find out about all of them below.

Some Quick Facts About Jennifer Lopez’s Love Life

  • Jennifer has been with 10 men over the period of 37 years.
  • In all, she had three marriages and two engagements while the rest were dating relationships.
  • The shortest period she was in marriage was with Cris Judd, which lasted for 9 months.
  • Her longest period in marriage was with Marc Anthony, which lasted for 85 months (7years 1 month).
  • In all her love affairs, she has only one kid, and that is from her marriage with Marc Anthony.
  • The richest among the men Jennifer Lopez has ever dated is Sean “Diddy” Combs, with an estimated net worth of US$885 million.
  • The richest among the men she has married before is Marc Anthony, with a net worth of US$80 million.

Here is a list of Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husbands and her boyfriends starting even before she got famous.

List of Jennifer Lopez’s Ex-husbands and why She Divorced Each

Ojani Noa

  • Profession – Waiter, Actor, Film producer, Chef
  • Period Spent Together – 1997 to 1998
  • Relationship Status – Husband
  • Reason for separation – Undisclosed

First on our list of Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husbands is Ojani Noa who was actually her first husband. At that time, she was an up-coming artist, just before she broke into stardom. He was a Cuban waiter who works at singer Gloria Estefan’s restaurant, where they first met and fell in love with each other thereafter.

Jennifer Lopez and Ojani Noa then got married on 22 February 1997, a marriage that did not stand the test of time, as it collapsed in a matter of barely a year. The marriage was dissolved in January 1998, with the reasons for their decision to part ways kept secret by both Lopez and Noa.

After their split, Jennifer Lopez engaged the services of her ex-husband, Ojani Noa, to manage her restaurant (Madrid) sometime in 2002. Four years after (in 2006), Ojani made a move to publish a book on facts and untold stories about the affairs between him and Jennifer Lopez but was swiftly sued by her ex-wife Jennifer, with a court injunction forbidding him from publishing the book.

Cris Judd

  • Profession – Dancer, Actor, Choreographer
  • Period Spent Together – 2001 to 2002
  • Relationship Status – Husband
  • Reason for separation – Irreconcilable differences

Cris Judd was the second husband of the multi-grammy award winner Jennifer Lopez. They met while shooting her music video “Love Don’t Cost a Thing,” where Cris Judd was a backup dancer and the video director. Soon after the video was shot, they both fell in love with each other and dated shortly before moving on to get married in September 2021.

It was quite unfortunate that the marriage crashed in June 2002, and they later finalized the divorce petition in 2003. A lot of people still know him today primarily as one of Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husbands.

Cris hinted in an interview after their breakup that he was not a normal person during the period of their marriage. He stated that he lost his privacy and could not do anything about it; he was at the same time not happy with himself. Though he insisted that this was not the reason for the breakup, he seems to be let off the hook when they both split less than a year into their marriage.

Marc Anthony

  • Profession – Record produce, Composer, Singer-songwriter, Actor, Television producer
  • Period Spent Together – 2004 to 2011
  • Relationship Status – Husband
  • Reason for separation – Irreconcilable differences

The big rumor of Jennifer Lopez and the Latin music superstar Marc Anthony dating began in September 2003. Meanwhile, they had both met and collaborated on a song together in 1999, titled “No Me Ames.” Just after Jennifer cut off her relationship with Ben Affleck and Marc divorced former Miss Universe, Dayanara Torres, in 2004, they both tied the knot in June 2004, shortly after coming together.

After their marriage, Jennifer Lopez and her fellow Latin music superstar enjoyed years together heartily as couples, and the marriage seemed to be the definition of perfection for Lopez. Their marriage was fruitful as they welcomed a set of twins (Max and Emme) in February 2008. Three years after the kids were born, things began to go wacky between the two, as Jennifer’s career was booming with lots of busy schedules and tours.

At this point, Marc felt this was becoming too much for him to manage, and he felt he could not control Jennifer to give more attention to the family. Meanwhile, Jennifer had earlier complained about things not working out in their marriage. She felt they were not living together as a family, and suggested to Marc that they go their separate ways. According to her, she was expecting Marc to still put in more fight for the marriage to work, but he gave up so easily.

Marc and Jennifer later announced their separation in July 2011. A divorce petition was filed a year later, citing irreconcilable differences, and by 2014 their divorce was finalized with Jennifer assigned the primary custody of their twins. Marc is one of Jennifer Lopez’ ex-husbands who many people feel shouldn’t have been in this category had he fought for their marriage to survive.

Summary List of Men Jennifer Lopez Married and Divorced

  • Ojani Noa (1997 to 1998)
  • Cris Judd (2001 to 2002)
  • Marc Anthony (2004 to 2011)

List of Jenniffer Lopez’s Boyfriends

David Cruz

David Cruz and Jlo
David Cruz and Jlo
  • Profession – Personal business
  • Period Spent Together – 1984 to 1994
  • Relationship Status – Boyfriend
  • Reason for separation – Distance due to her career

David Cruz and Jennifer Lopez were high school lovebirds and he has been by her side as she climbed up the ladder to prominence. Jennifer began dating David at the early age of fifteen. However, the two fell out of love after a decade. As Jennifer’s fame began to rise due to her career, it widened the gap between them.

David Cruz was one man that understood and knew Jennifer in and out, as she confessed in her statement sometime in 2004. According to her, David Cruz was her buddy, and he knows her better than every other person. Meanwhile, After their separation, David Cruz got involved with another girl named Isa.

Cruz was known to be good at academics. He graduated from New York University and was known to do some small jobs before venturing into a small business. He also tried venturing into modeling but that did not work out for him. Sadly, more details about David Cruz are not known as he did not operate any social media account. He went into a quiet mode after his separation from Jennifer and some people blamed the singer for abandoning her poor boyfriend in the name of fame.

Unfortunately, David was one of the victims of the first wave of the Covid 19 outbreak in 2020, which claimed his life. He died of a heart attack as a result of complications from the deadly virus. It was reported that his girlfriend was with him when he died. His girlfriend defined him as a real man, a very loving and caring kind-hearted man who exhibits love all the way. Though not one of Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husbands, Cruz is still being mentioned as one of the men who meant a lot to her.

Wesley Snipes

Jlo and Wesley Snipes
Jlo and Wesley Snipes
  • Profession – Actor, Film producer, Martial artist, Singer, Businessperson
  • Period Spent Together – 1995
  • Relationship Status – Boyfriend
  • Reason for separation – Infidelity

Wesley Snipes and Jennifer Lopez co-starred in the movie “Money train”, where they met. Jennifer disclosed that he used to flirt with her while on set, but later began to get serious with it. On noticing how serious Wesley was with her, Jennifer then thought of it and gave him a chance.

They dated for a while before they broke up. Apparently, Wesley was far from making it as Jennifer Lopez’s husband. Their relationship hit the rocks due to infidelity on the part of Wesley. He has five children from two women: April Snipes (1985 to 1990), who has one child for him, and Nakyung ” Nikki” Pack (2003-present), with who he has four children.

Sean “Diddy” Combs

Sean "Diddy" Combs and jennifer lopez
Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jennifer Lopez
  • Profession – Rapper, Actor, Singer, Record producer, Film producer
  • Period Spent Together – 1999 to 2001
  • Relationship Status – Boyfriend
  • Reason for separation – Infidelity

Sean “Diddy” Combs’s romantic relationship with Jennifer was a well-known and publicized one and was tagged as one of Jennifer Lopez’s most high-profile relationships. They both met and worked together on her album titled “On the 6”. Thereafter they started dating. The two lovers found themselves in the police net sometime in December 1999 along with two others after a shooting outside a club in Times Square.

Sometime in 2001, Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs’ love went sour, and they decided to go their separate ways, with Sean Combs being the cause of the breakup, in that he was cheating. Jennifer, in her statement during an interview, made it known that she did not catch him cheating but knew he was cheating. She further stated that she knew the relationship would not work.

Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez
  • Profession – Actor, Film director, Businessperson, Film producer, Screenwriter
  • Period Spent Together – 2002 to 2004
  • Relationship Status – Fiancé
  • Reason for separation – Individual differences

Ben Affleck started dating Jennifer Lopez when they met on the set of Gigli, a movie that did not turn a hit on the home screen despite the huge effort put into it. The pair later fell in love and got engaged in November 2002. Affleck was said to have secretly proposed to her with a 6.1-carat pink diamond Harry Winston ring that was worth a whopping $3.2 million.

They later suspended their wedding due to the heavy publicity it attracted from the public. The duo believed the media attention might become uncontrollable if they proceed as planned on the wedding. In January 2004, Jennifer and Ben called off their engagement and split for good. They were both sure they loved each other, but they weren’t sure if they were ready for the journey together. Affleck started getting bored the moment they postponed the wedding, same for Lopez.

Beau “Casper” Smart

Casper Smart and Jlo
Casper Smart and Jlo
  • Profession – Actor, Choreographer, Dancer
  • Period Spent Together – 2011 to 2016
  • Relationship Status – Boyfriend
  • Reason for separation – Individual differences, age gap

Jennifer and Casper had been in a kind of on-and-off relationship for a while, as they first came together in 2011, split, and later came together again. It seems the strong chemistry was there despite the huge age difference. Jennifer is 19 years older than Casper, who says age counts when it comes to the issue of love, genuine love for that matter.

The duo met when the music video for “Dance Again” was being shot, and they started getting closer to each other. According to Casper, they were both single then, which gave him the gut to flirt with her; from there, things began getting serious and a connection was established.

At a point in 2016, they both parted ways due to the age difference. Casper felt he was selfish and not thoughtful enough to want to settle down at that time with someone who already had two kids.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Jlo
Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Jlo
  • Profession – Choreographer, Dancer, Teacher
  • Period Spent Together – 2014
  • Relationship Status – Boyfriend
  • Reason for separation – Individual

Briefly after Casper and Lopsez’s breakup, Maksim was seen around her in 2014. Some believed they were already dating, but the singer came out to deny it. She opened up on this on her Twitter page to clear the air. The renowned choreographer and dancer was already married with a kid at the time. His wife’s name is Peta Murgatroyd, she got married to him in 2017.

Drake

  • Profession – Musician
  • Period Spent Together – 2016 to 2017
  • Relationship Status – Boyfriend
  • Reason for Separation – Unknown

Jennifer Lopez and Drake had what turned out to be a short-lived fling that many of their fans had wished blossomed into marriage or at least lasted a little longer than it did. The then couple’s love story started sometime in 2016 as they were spotted going on dates together, which left many people in awe and at the same time admiration.

While they were at it, Drake heated up media reports about them when he was cited at Jennifer’s show around December 2016; even Jennifer shared a picture of them on Instagram about his attending her show. Furthermore, Drake bought Lopez a Tiffany Victoria necklace which cost about $100,000 at the time, the songstress was also reported to have started wearing Drake’s chain.

Drake was also reported to have met Lopez’s kids Max and Emme and quickly became friends with them. Indeed, their relationship, in the beginning, seemed like one made in heaven but yet some persons expressed their concerns about the newly instituted relationship between the two.

While the public doted on how they were going about grooming their love and the media was doing justice by reporting every of their outing, some insiders in the entertainment industry had a contrary opinion about their relationship, starkly different from what we all thought. They opined that the purported relationship was fake and only meant to promote the record they made together.

To give credence to this assertion, informed persons questioned why Drake will suddenly become all lovey-dovey with Jennifer while barely a few months before then he declared his love for Rihana at the 2016 MTV awards. Thus, they ruled out any possibility of the seeming relationship between the two being anything but genuine.

In accordance with what many better-informed people had anticipated, whatever that held Jennifer Lopez’s relationship with Drake together quickly fell apart in 2017. Drake was quick to rap about Jennifer, his ex, in his song titled “Diplomatic Immunity.” The lyrics where he mentioned her went like this “2010 was when I lost my halo / 2017 I lost a J. Lo / A Rotterdam trip had me on front page, though.”

He, however, insisted in an interview he had with Radar that their relationship was real and far from being fake. It was later rumored that the two fell apart after Jennifer caught Drake cheating with another woman who he ended up having a child with. The woman in question was later revealed to be Sophie Brussaux.

Alex Rodriguez

image source
  • Profession – Baseball player and Actor
  • Period Spent Together – February 2017 to March 2021
  • Relationship Status – Fiancè
  • Reason for separation – Cheating

Alex Rodriguez and Jeniffer Lopez had met sometime in 2005 at a baseball game in New York (Shea Stadium, Queens), where Jeniffer stopped by to shake Rodriguez before the match began. During this period, Lopez was still very much with Marc Anthony. Later in March 2017 (12 years after they met in New York), they met again and began to date.

Their relationship was confirmed by Rodriguez later that month during an interview. He admitted that they have been having a splendid time together and that Lopez is such an incredible girl and one of the most intelligent beings he has ever come across. He also hinted that she’s a tremendous mother. A a few hours after he granted the interview, the couple were sen together in public for the first time.

In April, Lopez also granted an interview where she narrated how they both met again after their first meeting a decade before. She confirmed that Rodriguez was the new man occupying her heart. The two made their relationship official at the 2017 Met Gala, where they made their first red carpet appearance as a couple, and from then on, they were seen together more often and they went on trips together to Paris.

In March 2019 (two years down the line), they both announced that they had gotten engaged, with beautiful photos of Jennifer’s engagement ring and their photos with the kids. Sadly, at a time everyone was expecting the big party for their wedding, they broke the sad news that they had called off their engagement and that they both had to part ways.

Jennifer and Alex halted their engagement in March 2021 based on infidelity on the path of Rodriguez as she couldn’t fully trust him as a result. It was gathered that Jose Canseco (a baseball player) claimed that Rodriguez had an affair with his ex-wife, Jessica, among other related allegations.

Summary List of Ex-boyfriends Jennifer Lopez Had

  • David Cruz (1984 to 1994)
  • Wesley Snipes (1995)
  • Sean “Diddy” Combs (1999 to 2001)
  • Ben Affleck (2002 to 2004)
  • Beau “Caper” Smart (2011 to 2016)
  • Maksim Chmerkovskiy (2014)
  • Drake (2016 to 2017)
  • Alex Rodriguez (February 2017 to March 2021)

Judging by Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husband’s list, she has indeed seen it all in her love life, as she has seen herself in different levels of relationships with different classes of men. Her journey of love through decades and recent broken engagement with Alex Rodriguez, which one would have thought of as her final destination for love, is an indication that finding true and genuine love that brings one happiness for the rest of one’s life could be a journey farther than one could ever imagine in life.

Currently, Jennifer Lopez has no new known boyfriend and she seems not in a hurry to move into another relationship. Perhaps, she has seen it all or is content with the way she is having two lovely kids to care for. In as much as many of her fans desire to see her cuddle up with another man who deserves her love, Jlo has had such cuddle several times, so much so that she knows too well it could be ephemeral.

Chidiebube
Chidiebube
Chidiebube has been writing and editing articles on movies, entertainment and other juicy things for several years. When he is not writing, he spends time outdoors, lost in the beauty of nature or simply travelling around the world. Thank goodness he can do the later with any internet-enabled device

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