Jennifer Lopez's First Husband Ojani Noa Admits He Can Relate to Ben Affleck Looking Like He Wanted to 'Break Someone's Head Off' During Marriage: 'I Hated Going on the Red Carpet'
Sept. 14 2024, Published 4:10 p.m. ET
Jennifer Lopez's first husband is sympathizing with Ben Affleck.
Ojani Noa, 50, who was married to the Selena actress, now 55, for less than a year in 1997, got candid about the similarities in his former union with Lopez and what the Air actor, 52, seems to have experienced with the global superstar.
When the former waiter was asked in a recent interview about the level of attention Lopez required when being engaged in a romance with her — which was depicted in her Amazon documentary when she kept asking Affleck if she looked "fat" — he said, "I could understand Ben. We would both try to get her confidence a little bit higher."
"But she’s had four good husbands and she’s been loved before," Noa explained. "So, I don’t know how much love she needs or how much love she’s still looking for."
The now-producer also touched upon how his way of dealing with the media exposure was just like the Boston native always looking "like he wants to break someone’s head off" while at public events. "I could see myself doing that too," he added.
"I can tell you in my own experience, we would have disagreements in the car and then 20 minutes later, we’d have to sit and pretend everything was fine," Noa said. "But you can only pretend so much. When we were going through h--- and going out as a couple, I was in a bad mood too. Because I knew inside we were not good."
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"I hated going on the red carpet. She would try and get me to come and I’d say: 'No way. I’m not going to pretend,'" he emphasized.
As for what he would say to his ex-spouse now that she's filed for divorce from Affleck, he noted, "Stay single for a while, take 12 months off. If she meets someone new, maybe keep it private and not get married again. She has an amazing career and she’s a hard-working, beautiful woman, but when you’re with someone, you have to spend quality time with them and not think about being on camera."
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"I would just say to Jen: you need to be yourself so you can find yourself," he added of Lopez. "There are no bad feelings at all. I would always be her friend. I sympathize with both of them because divorce is hard."
Daily Mail conducted the interview with Noa.