Jennifer Lopez Has Had an Epic Love Life So Far

Lopez’s relationship with David Cruz is one of her longest — a decade — and he was ostensibly her first serious boyfriend. Cruz and Lopez were involved from 1984 to 1994, meaning she hooked up with him when she was around 15 years old and they remained together through the beginning of Lopez’s career. Cruz was there when Lopez got her first big gig on In Living Color. He moved with Lopez from New York to Los Angeles in order to help her realize her dreams. Talk about putting your life on hold to make sure bae succeeds, right?

The romance between one-time co-stars Snipes and Lopez was short-lived yet beautiful. This relationship began a running theme in Lopez’s romantic life: She would typically meet her suitors in some professional setting. Rare is the romance to ensnare Lopez that wasn’t begun on set or in the studio. There’s something about movie sets that makes the heart grow fonder, so there must have been something especially potent on the set of Money Train. The film is notable for not only sparking the romance between Snipes and Lopez but also, interestingly, featuring Lopez’s first sex scene. The more you know!

Lopez is well on her way to becoming a modern-day Elizabeth Taylor. Having been married three times already, Lopez still needs a few more nuptial notches on her bedpost, but she’s made decent inroads. Her first marriage, to Ojani Noa, lasted from 1997 to 1998. Noa and Lopez were together just as Lopez began to secure better acting roles, including a star turn in Out of Sight opposite George Clooney, Anaconda and Antz. Lopez had successfully transitioned into a serious film star. Eventually, however, her marriage to Noa crumbled, and for years afterward, reports surfaced that Noa was trying to maintain his 15 minutes of fame by dragging Lopez through the mud. Not cool, bro.

You want something very scandalous? Apparently, Lopez had a short-lived dalliance with legendary Sony music exec Tommy Mottola shortly after he divorced Mariah Carey and she was divorced from Noa. Mottola and Lopez’s rumored hook-up is the stuff of legend; maybe this is how Mariah Carey claims to “not know” Lopez.

Now we’re entering into the more infamous and beloved phase of Lopez’s love life. For most sentient Millenials, Lopez’s romantic entanglements begin with her beautiful connection to rapper, producer and music mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs. The pair met in 1999 while working on Lopez’s debut album On the 6, which featured such iconic late ’90s/early ’00s hits as “If You Had My Love” and “Waiting for Tonight.” Lopez came out of her shell during this time, now straddling two big career stratospheres: music and film. From here until 2001, Lopez was making headlines and cuddling up to Combs. It was during this relationship that Lopez donned the now-infamous and iconic green Grammys dress shown here. It covered literally just her important bits and nothing else. 

By 2001, Lopez was ready to walk down the aisle for the second time and, unfortunately, Combs wasn’t about that life. So, Lopez went the more classic of pop star routes and married a backup dancer. Interestingly, this is not the only backup dancer to have cha-cha’ed his way into Lopez’s heart, but more on that later. Lopez’s dancer beau and second hubby went by the name of Cris Judd. She and Judd barely made it out of the early ’00s, divorcing in 2003. Scandalously, Lopez began dating Ben Affleck before her divorce from Judd was finalized. Clearly, Lopez was in no mood to let a failing marriage stop her from seeking out a new beau or continuing to make films and music. During her marriage to Judd, Lopez released her sophomore album, J.Lo, and starred in The Wedding Planner, Angel Eyes, Enough and Maid in Manhattan — arguably the peak of Lopez’s prime acting years. And then came Gigli.

You wanna know what a beautiful hot mess looks like? I present to you for judgment Ben Affleck and Lopez’s union. The couple, infamously known as “Bennifer” while they were together from 2002 to 2004, made headlines at first for their terrible plonker of a film — Gigli — and then afterwards for their ostensible power-couple status. Gigli effectively stalled both Affleck and Lopez’s steadily climbing acting credibility. The film tanked at the box office, and their relationship didn’t last very long after that. They were a beautiful couple, but this ominous start to their relationship didn’t bode well for their future. Well, that and those weird meta shots of Affleck rubbing Lopez’s butt in the music video for “Jenny From the Block.” 

The last time Lopez heard wedding bells, she was marrying singer Marc Anthony. Lopez and Anthony rekindled their romance in 2004 and announced their engagement later that year. Lopez’s marriage to Anthony was her longest yet; seven years yielded two children (twins Max and Emme), one film collaboration (the biopic El Cantante) and the bulk of Lopez’s discography (albums Rebirth, Como Ama Una Mujer, Brave and Love?). That’s a heavy, heavy output no matter which way you slice it. Lopez and Anthony parted ways in 2011 and briefly reunited onstage in 2016, sparking rumors of a romance, but the pair maintained that they were amicable and simply wanted to work together again.

The curse of the backup dancers strikes again!

This time, Lopez got together with Casper Smart, a dancer with whom she maintained a messy, dramatic, on-and-off relationship for the next five years. Lopez was clearly not worried about Smart enough to let it stop her from doing the necessary work in her life. While dating smart from 2011 to 2015, Lopez appeared in films like Ice Age: Continental Drift and Parker as well as getting more involved in charitable work with organizations like the Girls and Boys Club of America and becoming the first Global Advocate for Girls and Women at the United Nations Foundation. 

Drake and Lopez were, for a brief time, associated with one another (and possibly in a super romantic and sexy way) from late 2016 to early 2017. The pair reportedly spent New Year’s together and low-key boasted about their involvement with a fireside Instagram. The pair never publicly confirmed or denied their relationship; instead, Lopez would only confirm that she collaborated with Drake on a song from his playlist More Life, so all we have to go on are the stories from friends and undisclosed sources and our own imaginings. Sigh.

In 2017, Lopez continues to absolutely kill it, career-wise, with a hit television show (NBC’s Shades of Blue) as well as a renewed and lively film career; recent outings include The Boy Next Door, Lila & Eve, Home and the upcoming TV musical adaptation of Bye Bye Birdie. As Lopez’s career is ostensibly on track to more success, her romantic life is yet again heating up with rumors that she is dating retired New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez is recently single, and the pair have reportedly known each other for years. For now, all bets are off on predicting how this match will turn out.