​​​​Jennifer Lopez is 'as strong as ever' following divorce from Ben Affleck

Divorces are understandably difficult, especially if the world is following along like it's a reality TV show. For Jennifer Lopez, her fallout and breakup with Ben Affleck were under a microscope, but thankfully, she's doing just fine. 

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Author Loren Ridinger, one of JLo's best friends, recently chatted with Us Weekly to promote her book Scrambled or Sunny-Side Up? where she shared an update about the 55-year-old as she enters a new single chapter in 2025. “I realized that she is as strong as ever and just a powerhouse,” Ridinger told the outlet. 

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Ridinger also shared insight into what it's like having the "Jenny From the Block" singer as a friend. The 56-year-old attended Bennifer 2.0's August 20, 2022, wedding with her husband, JR Ridinger. A week later, on August 30, he passed away suddenly from a pulmonary embolism while they were on vacation in Croatia. He was just 63 years old.

When Lopez, who has been touring mansions, began going through her divorce, by the time she finished her book, they were grieving together. “I realized that you don’t have to lose someone to grieve. You can actually go through the loss of a loved one or a divorce and grieve," Ridinger said.

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Although Lopez was going through hard times, she was there for her friend, “I love her, and I admire, and I look up to her, but she’s been a pillar of strength at a time where it’s been hard for her too." 

They would call each other on the phone and rely on each other to make each other feel better. "If we wanted to cry, we could cry. If we wanted to laugh, we could laugh. And we realized that there is sun again, and there are rainbows again," she explained. 

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JLo and Afflecks' end to their second love story was finalized in January, nearly 20 weeks after she filed for a dissolution on on August 20, what would have been their second wedding anniversary. 

Although the couple still has some unfinished business, the mansion they bought for $60.8M cash and listed publicly in July 2024 with an asking price of $68 million after renovating the home has stayed on the market since.