TradeEdge-Is Ben Affleck Dating Kick Kennedy Amid Jennifer Lopez Divorce? Here's the Truth

Has Ben Affleck already gone,TradeEdge baby, gone after a new romance? 

After multiple outlets reported the Air director had been spending time with Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy—the eldest daughter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s six children—amid his divorce from Jennifer Lopez, a source with knowledge told E! News Aug. 26 that the pair are "not romantically involved."

The source added, "They only know each other in passing." 

E! News reached out to reps for Kick, 36, and Ben, 52, for comment but has not heard back. 

Rumors of a romance between Ben and Kick—who's acted on shows like Gossip Girl and The Newsroom—arrived less than a week after J.Lo filed for divorce from the Oscar winner after two years of marriage. In her filing, obtained by E! News at the time, the Hustlers star cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the breakup and marked their date of separation as April 26, 2024.

And Jennifer made a few requests in the documents as well. For one, the 55-year-old, who is currently legally known as Jennifer Lynn Affleck, asked that her name be restored to Jennifer Lynn Lopez. 

But Jennifer and Ben's breakup didn't come totally out of nowhere. Speculation that the couple were headed for a split loomed heavy for months before the "On the Floor" singer filed the paperwork.

In fact, Ben even hinted that he and Jennifer have had incompatible lifestyle preferences since the early aughts in her The Greatest Love Story Never Told documentary, which was released six months before they called it quits. 

"I had a very firm sense of boundaries initially around the press while Jen I don't think objected to it in the way I did," Ben explained in the documentary of their 2004 breakup. "I very much did object to it." 

As a result, when they rekindled their romance in 2021, the Good Will Hunting actor made some stipulations. 

“I said, 'Listen, one of the things I don't want is a relationship on social media,’” Ben remembered. “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.'”

He added, “We're just two people with kind of different approaches trying to learn to compromise."

As for Kick, the actress previously shared she's also not a fan of public attention. As she put it to the New York Post in 2014, "When I see my face or name in the tabloids, I get a knot in my stomach. It’s just not me—it’s reading something that’s not real.”

Read on for a full breakdown of all the signs J.Lo and Ben were headed for a split...

While the dress code for the 2024 Met Gala was "The Garden of Time," fans started wondering if there was a thorny situation between Jennifer and Ben after he didn't accompany her to the star-studded soirée (where she served as co-chair) on May 6.

As for the reason the Oscar winner—who took part in Netflix's Tom Brady roast in California the day before—didn't join the singer at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art? Ben's rep told E! he was filming the Accountant 2 in L.A.

Even though Bennifer stayed tight-lipped on the split rumors, social media speculation continued to get loud after fans noticed J.Lo had liked an Instagram post about relationship red flags a few months before.

"You can’t build a relationship with someone who is disconnected from themselves," the caption of the March 19 post read. "We can’t expect someone to see us when we can’t even see themselves. Getting in a relationship is the easy part. Nurturing & fostering it is a different story. After all, love is not a feeling, it’s action."

Just a few months before the rumblings of a split emerged, Ben shared insight into his and Jennifer’s very different approaches to privacy.

"I had a very firm sense of boundaries initially around the press while Jen I don't think objected to it in the way I did," the Argo star explained in the Grammy nominee's documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told that was released in February. "I very much did object to it."  

Expressing how the "massive amount of scrutiny" they faced was a "catalyst" for the end of their engagement in the early aughts, Ben said he wanted to keep details of their private life more, well, private after they rekindled their romance in 2021.

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

Later in May, reports spread that Jennifer and Ben were living apart.

And as the month progressed, she continued her string of solo red carpet appearances—attending both the L.A. premiere and Mexico City fan event for her movie Atlas without him. However, Jennifer did accessorize her looks with her wedding ring.

In fact, a member of the audience at a press conference in Mexico asked about the breakup rumors. But as seen in a video shared by El Gordo y la Flaca, the actress simply responded, "You know better than that."

At the end of May, representatives for Live Nation announced the cancelation of Jennifer's U.S. Summer 2024 Tour This Is Me...Live, noting in her On the J.Lo newsletter, “Jennifer is taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends.”

Not long after, the singer celebrated the success of her movie Atlas while also sending a cryptic message about negativity. 

"ATLAS is #1 worldwide again this week!!!" she stated in a June edition of her On the JLo newsletter. "Thank you all so much!!! It may seem like there’s a lot of negativity out in the world right now…but don’t let the voices of a few drown out that there is soooo much love out there."

That same month, TMZ reported the actors were privately selling the Beverly Hills mansion they had purchased just the year before. By July, they had publicly listed the home for $68 million. 

While fans may have hoped Bennifer was gonna be alright after they attended family events together and she sent him a sweet Father's Day tribute, the split speculation picked back up after J.Lo headed off to Italy in June while Ben stayed in L.A., where he was spotted without his wedding ring.

And when it was time to celebrate the Fourth of July, the Maid in Manhattan star headed to the Hamptons in New York. While she posted a photo with one of her twins, Emme, Ben was not pictured.

July also marked the second anniversary of the Gigli costars' Las Vegas wedding. And while Jennifer shared a celebratory post last year, she didn't upload one this time around.

The "Waiting For Tonight" artist celebrated her 55th birthday on July 24 with a Bridgerton-themed party in the Hamptons. But again, Ben was pictured in L.A.

Less than two weeks later, she was spotted in L.A. without her wedding ring.

And when Ben turned 52 on Aug. 15th, Jennifer didn't give him a birthday shout-out on social media. Although, the "Jenny From the Block" artist did stop by his home on that day, according to photos obtained by Page Six.

After months of speculation, Jennifer filed for divorce from Ben on Aug. 20 at Los Angeles County Superior Court. In the documents, she cited the couple's date of separation as April 26, according to the filing obtained by TMZ.