Ben Affleck has says ex-wife Jennifer Lopez is a 'pioneer' who he 'learned a lot' from

Ben Affleck has hailed his ex-wife Jennifer Lopez a "pioneer" who he "learned a lot" from.

The Animals actor-and-director has an "enormous respect and regard" for the career of the Hustlers star - who he married in 2022 but split from two years later, 20 years after they had called off their first engagement - and thinks she works harder than anyone he's ever met.

Speaking on iHeartPodcasts’ My Cultura Network podcast The Moment with Jorge and Paola Ramos, Ben said: "It would be hard for me to sum up briefly the things I got to learn from knowing Jennifer and witnessing her.

“You have to understand, I think to understand Jennifer Lopez, honestly, is to understand somebody who really is a pioneer who did things when he was told they’re not possible and you’re not welcome and by kind of force of will.

“And even when there were gates that were erected in front of her, she was able to use social media to demonstrate, ‘Actually, look at this, there is an audience for me and for what I’m doing.’ Her whole sort of career has been marked by — and this is a tough business, anyway — but definitely doubly so for her, triply so, and I think you have to afford her the credit of a kind of. . . they give an Olympic diver a degree of difficult. I think she’s got a 4X on what she’s done."