Ben Affleck publicly praised Jennifer Lopez as “incredible” as the former couple reunited on Monday night at the New York premiere of her new musical film Kiss of the Spider Woman, an appearance that doubled as a producer’s salute to his lead actor and a clear signal that the pair intend to keep professional commitments front and center following their divorce earlier this year. Addressing guests inside the theater before the screening, Affleck said his goal with Artists Equity—the company he co-founded with Matt Damon—was to “empower great artists and tell moving stories,” adding of the project, “in this movie, we did all of that,” before turning to Lopez with the words, “you’re incredible.” Lopez, introducing the film moments later, thanked him for showing up and said the movie “wouldn’t have been made without Ben and without Artists Equity.”
On the red carpet, Affleck expanded on the tribute in an interview, calling Lopez’s turn “the kind of role [she was] born to play” and stressing how much labor sits beneath the film’s glossy finish. “She’s amazing in the movie. I just can’t wait for the audiences to see the movie. I’m as proud of this movie as any that I’ve ever been involved with,” he said, as cameras captured the former spouses smiling together for photographers. Lopez, who has described the shoot as a lifeline during a difficult personal stretch, repeated that the production would not have reached opening night without Affleck’s backing, credit she has also given in recent interviews.
Affleck’s appearance was not billed in advance, and the moment he stepped onstage to introduce the screening drew a brief stir in the room before he pivoted deliberately to the project, praising director Bill Condon’s “amazing job” and, in a lighter aside, joking with co-star Tonatiuh about “lifelong stardom” ahead. Outside the auditorium, his presence read less as a surprise cameo than as a producer doing the expected work of shepherding a film he helped bankroll through its public launch; inside, it read as something else too, a clear vote of confidence in a performance Lopez has said she has been “waiting for… [her] whole life.”
The reunion also unfolded in small, unscripted beats that underscored an amicable tone. At one point, as Lopez spoke to an entertainment outlet on the press line, Affleck stepped in with a smile to ask for a quick photo together before they split off again to finish separate interviews. Elsewhere on the carpet he told another crew, “I wouldn’t dream of not being here,” framing the evening as a straightforward act of support for the film and for a colleague whose work he said audiences would soon judge for themselves. The brief interludes furnished images that raced across social feeds within minutes, while the quotes anchored a narrative that stayed mostly inside the four walls of the premiere: a producer praising his star, an ex-wife thanking an ex-husband, and both keeping the focus on the movie.