Nothing's fishy here: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez caught kissing at Malibu sushi spot
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck know the drill: Nothing says "celebrity romance" like locking lips at Nobu.
The couple, who split up in 2004 but reunited following Lopez's March breakup with Alex Rodriguez, were photographed Sunday kissing and nuzzling at the Malibu sushi restaurant, a favorite hangout among celebrities, the New York Post reported Monday.
The occasion? The Post said Lopez's younger sister, Lynda, was celebrating in advance of her 50th birthday, which falls on Tuesday. Apparently the singer's extended family, including her twins, Max and Emme, was on hand for dinner.
This is the first time Jen and Ben have been caught kissing since they started hanging out again in late April, sparking excited declarations that Bennifer 2.0 was happening.
They've spent lots of time together in recent weeks — much of it at her Los Angeles home — and traveled together to Montana for a weekend. But Lopez was solo in Miami working on a music video before Bennifer reunited in L.A. on Friday.
Affleck was spotted with Lopez's mother, Guadalupe Rodríguez, last week in Las Vegas, where, according to People, she was making a "fun cameo" appearance in something the Oscar winner was directing. Rodríguez and Affleck have reportedly been close since the first time the couple dated.
"In the past, Jennifer's mom and Ben were very close. Guadalupe loved Ben. She was sad when they couldn't work things out years ago," an unnamed source told People over the weekend. "She is thrilled that they are back together now."
Since ending his marriage to Jennifer Garner — the couple split in 2015 after 10 years of marriage — Affleck has dated several people, including "Saturday Night Live" producer Lindsay Shookus, Playboy model Shauna Sexton and "Knives Out" actress Ana de Armas, whom he was hanging out with during the bulk of the pandemic.
Lopez, who has been through three divorces, started dating Alex Rodriguez in 2017. The couple got engaged in the Bahamas in 2019, then split in mid-April after warning bells went off a bit prematurely in March.
With the grainy Nobu photos, Bennifer now share something in common with alleged new couple Kanye West and Irina Shayk: They were all photographed with the longest of long lenses.
(Incidentally, for a while, J. Lo and A-Rod had a beach house in Malibu, near the restaurant, but they unloaded it last September.)
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
