What Jennifer Lopez's exes have said about dating her - from Marc Anthony to Diddy, A-Rod, Cris Judd and more

In 1997, Jennifer's movie career was just getting started with her breakout role in Selena. This was the year she also married her first husband, Ojani Noa.

When they split 11 months later, Ojani made plans to release a tell-all book about their relationship, but JLo filed a lawsuit and won, preventing it from happening. 

He later revealed he was driven to jealousy in their romance when she stepped out publicly at events with Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who she later went on to date. 

Ojani told Daily Mail: "I rang Jen and asked why she was going out with him on dates and she said, 'It’s just business. This is what I’m being told I have to do.'

"I was jealous and would scream, 'But you are married!'"

While Ojani was barred from releasing his book, he did share more details of their relationship in a 2011 YouTube video when he said: "The wedding was very crazy. I love the fact that I got married because I was totally in love, I was crazy in love. We were totally in love."

And when news broke of Jennifer and Ben's nuptials, Ojani sent well wishes, telling Daily Mail: "I wish her and Ben the best," before adding: "But I'm not convinced it will last."

It turns out that Ojani had a reason to be jealous as Jennifer went on to publicly date P Diddy for two years. 

Although JLo later confessed she knew the rapper and producer was cheating on her. 

"It was the first time I was with someone who wasn't faithful," she told Vibe in 2003. 

"I was in this relationship with Puff where I was totally crying, crazy and going nuts, it really took my whole life in a tailspin. I never caught him but I just knew." 

They remained close, however, and in 2006 Diddy told People that he'd dated several high profile women and that Jennifer was "one of the great ones". 

He also claimed JLo was "without a doubt" one of his great loves. 

Jennifer and Cris Judd met on the set of her music video for "Love Don't Cost a Thing" shortly after her break up from Diddy in 2001. 

They enjoyed a whirlwind romance and tied the knot that same year, only for her to file for a divorce less than a year later. 

Cris suggested his ex didn't put in the effort to make the marriage a success, telling Us Weekly. "I can't give you the answer as to why her relationships don't work. I think that it's that it is work. It's whether you want to work on it or not. When you sign up to get married, you can't just walk away."

The dancer and choreographer recalled out "tough" it was living out their relationship in the public eye.

"You know it's very tough," he told Us Weekly. "Your privacy is breached. You're no longer a normal person. 

'[Our wedding] was a circus. I think several people got arrested trying to climb up a mountain... trying to sneak in. We actually rented the airspace.

But he doesn't blame Jennifer for the invasion of their privacy. "You kind of sign up for that, you know?

"You kind of have to take it and accept it and embrace it. Once you stop fighting it, it smoothes itself over. If you try to keep that privacy, it drives you nuts and that's why people break."

Although, Cris said they didn't call time due to the lack of privacy. "It had no bearing on the outcome of a relationship. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out."

Despite welcoming twins Max and Emme together, Jennifer and Marc Anthony's marriage ended in divorce in 2014 too. 

They became husband and wife in June 2004, one week after Marc finalized his divorce from his first wife Dayanara Torres.

JLo and Marc were together for several years and have remained friends insisting their split was a mutual decision. 

"I'll tell you that it wasn't something sensationalistic happening," he explained to Nightline.  "It was a realization on both our parts. So, you know, it wasn't shocking. These things happen. It was a decision that we made jointly."

He's praised his ex for being an all round incredible person. 

"She's the first one in the room and the last one to leave," Marc said in a 2021 Instyle interview. "The hardest worker I've ever met. When we were together, it was quite the opposite for me. That has changed since. I learned so much from her."

In 2011, Jennifer made headlines by stepping out with her new beau, Casper Smart. The backing dancer is 18 years Jennifer's junior and he confessed he was the reason their romance hit the skids. 

"I was very young and selfish," he shared with Univision via Hola! "I thought I was ready for a relationship with a woman with kids and everything.

"I was 23 or 24, she was 18 years older, so she was about 42 years old with two kids. But in the moment, everything just clicked. We spent every day together for a year."

They met when they were recording the music video for "Dance Again" and became close one year later. 

"I was single, she was single. It started out as flirting, then became more than flirting. There was a connection. Neither of us thought it would be more than a fun time and suddenly we were spending time together, we enjoyed each other’s company, there was chemistry."

Former New York Yankee player, Alex Rodriguez, described the day he met Jennifer as "the luckiest day of my life". 

They crossed paths in 2005 but didn't reconnect until 2017 when they became a couple. 

The sportsman popped the question during a romantic vacation in the Bahamas two years into their romance and she said "Yes". 

But the COVID-19 pandemic pressed pause on their plans and their postponement became permanent when they parted ways.

Their statement read: "We have realized we are better as friends and look forward to remaining so." 

He said he had no regrets over their split and said Jennifer is "the most talented human being. Look, we had a great time."

Alex mirrored many of JLo's exes when he called her the "hardest worker" and the "greatest performer," and he felt he and his daughters had taken away a lot of good from the relationship. 

"I had five years of an incredible life and partnership and also with my daughters, we learned so much," Alex said on Martha Stewart's podcast. 

"And now we have the opportunity to take that and move forward and say, 'You know what? We're so grateful for the last five years, how do we make the next five years better because of lessons learned?'"

Jennifer's romantic journey with her now-husband, Ben Affleck, has been a rollercoaster which has spanned two decades. 

Back in 2004, they called time on their relationship and canceled their nuptials blaming "the massive amount of scrutiny around our private life".

But in 2022, they tied the knot in a low-key Las Vegas wedding and have been making headlines ever since. 

The couple - who were last seen together for the first time in 47 days on May 19 - have admitted it takes work to navigate their relationship in the public eye.

Reflecting on their romantic journey in JLo’s 2024 documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told, Ben revealed his initial reservations about publicizing their relationship.

"Getting back together, I said, 'Listen, one of the things I don't want is a relationship on social media.'

"And then I sort of realized it's not a fair thing to ask. It's sort of like you're gonna marry a boat captain and you go, 'Well, I don't like the water.' We're just two people with kind of different approaches trying to learn to compromise."

At the premiere of the documentary, she made an emotional speech about Ben's support, despite his reservations about their public life. "I know he hates that I'm doing this right now," she admitted, highlighting their differing comfort levels with the spotlight.