LOS ANGELES -- After a relationship that spanned two decades, two engagements, two weddings and headlines too numerous to count, Jennifer Lopez has filed for divorce from Ben Affleck .

The filing on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court marked the apparent end of a celebrity relationship — or at least the second chapter — that captivated the world of entertainment and adorned countless tabloid covers. They became known, even before such power-couple nicknames were commonplace, as “Bennifer.”

The filing was first reported by the TMZ website. TMZ reported that Lopez listed the date of separation as April 26, 2024. It also stated that she did not mention any prenuptial agreement.

After meeting, falling in love and getting engaged in the early 2000s — and starring together in the infamous 2003 film “Gigli” and the 2004 movie “Jersey Girl” — the couple separated, citing the pressures of public scrutiny as a contributing factor.

But to the delight of many and perhaps the skepticism of others, they reunited two decades later and married — twice — in 2022.

“Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient,” Lopez wrote, announcing their first, quick, impromptu wedding in Las Vegas that July, and signing off as Jennifer Lynn Affleck.

“Stay around long enough and you might find the most unforgettable moment of your life in a drive-through in Las Vegas at 12:30 a.m. in the tunnel of love drive-through with your kids and the one you’ll be with forever,” she wrote in her newsletter.

The pair traveled to Las Vegas, joined the queue for their license alongside four other couples, and exchanged vows shortly after midnight at A Little White Wedding Chapel. Lopez shared that a Bluetooth speaker played a brief melody as they walked down the aisle, calling it the best night of their lives.

A month later, they had a grand celebration at Affleck’s house in Georgia, surrounded by loved ones.

Both had previously been married. Affleck, 52, wed Jennifer Garner, with whom he shares three children, in 2005. They separated in 2018.

Lopez, 55, had been married three times before. She was briefly married to Ojani Noa from 1997-1998 and to Cris Judd from 2001-2003. She and singer Marc Anthony were married for a decade, having wed in 2004, and share 14-year-old twins. She began dating former baseball player Alex Rodriguez in 2017, but the couple ended their engagement in 2021.

Throughout their journey, Lopez has been more open about their relationship with Affleck. Earlier this year, when asked if she was harder on herself because their romance was so public, Lopez agreed.

“Oh yeah. 100%. It’s made me question myself and feel truly bad about myself at times. It made me want to give up at times. But ultimately, I feel like you have to learn to navigate it,” she told The Associated Press. “You take the things that could be constructive about it and use them, and the rest you discard as negativity or, you know, other things like that and just think, ‘Whatever. I know who I am, I know what I want to do.’ ”

Affleck himself expressed admiration for her self-assurance, telling the AP last year that he agreed with the observation that Hollywood was unsure how to harness her multifaceted talent.

“I think she's at her best,” Affleck remarked. “She's doing amazing work, largely because she takes charge of her own career, rather than saying, ‘This is what I'm being offered.’ ”

Lopez is starring in the upcoming “Unstoppable,” produced under Affleck and Matt Damon's Artists Equity banner.

In May, she starred in the Netflix film “Atlas.” At the end of the month, she abruptly canceled her 2024 North American tour, explaining she was “heartsick and devastated” to disappoint fans but the decision was unavoidable. “Jennifer is taking time off to spend time with her children, family and close friends,” organizers stated.

The tour was her first in five years, promoting her first solo album in a decade, “This Is Me.... Now” and its accompanying film . a semi-fictionalized look at her romantic journey, and a documentary.

“When I was a little girl, people would ask me what I wanted to be. I always dreamed of being a woman in love,” Lopez sang on the album's title track.

The album, she said, was inspired by her renewed relationship with Affleck. However, the film was more "about your journey as a person, it’s about one person’s journey and what it takes to get from heartbreak back to love. Or a hopeless romantic’s journey in their search for love." In the movie, she played a character called The Artist who, similarly, had decided as a child what she wanted to be when she grew up: “in love.”

But the journey was not without its challenges. In one pivotal scene, The Artist is on the back of a motorcycle, cruising along a beach, with a handsome man, his face hidden. Then the motorcycle crashes.

“Not all love stories have a happy ending,” she says.

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Jocelyn Noveck reported from New York.

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This story corrects the ages of Affleck and Lopez.