Ben Affleck keeps it real on awards after being asked about Lopez's Oscar 'snubs'

Ben Affleck says he has "an enormous amount of respect and admiration" for ex-wife Jennifer Lopez, and he doesn't put much weight on the Oscars.

In a new Variety interview, the 54-year-old was asked why the Academy has never nominated Lopez, 57, for her screen work. 

The interviewer pointed to her roles in 2019's Hustlers and last year's Kiss of the Spider Woman. As the latter was produced by Artists Equity, the company Affleck shares with Matt Damon and Lopez, he replied, "I'm biased."

Affleck added, "I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for what she can do."

He then spoke about awards in general. He said commercial success doesn't always match his taste, and called the business "weird" and "subjective," with people bringing "a lot of their own stuff" to it. 

"I don't always think the right person won the right award," he said. He added that no one dies and hears from God which film was the true best picture of 1986. "It's just a bunch of people voting on movie prizes," he said.

This is not the first time he has praised Lopez since their split. In March 2025, he told GQ he had "nothing but respect" for her. A month later, he told Entertainment Tonight she is "spectacular" and "great to my kids." He said he loves her kids and is grateful to her.

Affleck and Lopez married in July 2022, after ending an engagement in 2004. She filed for divorce on their two-year anniversary, and it was finalized in January 2025.

In the same interview, Affleck also credited Lopez and his other ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, for doing "amazing jobs" building value on social media. "Don't think that's not real work," he said.

His new film, Animals, arrives on Netflix and in select theaters Friday, October 9.