For decades, actresses Jennifer Lopez and Leah Remini shared a legendary, seemingly unbreakable friendship.
They vacationed together, celebrated major holidays side by side, supported each other’s major career moves, and successfully blended their families, earning them a reputation as inseparable Hollywood sisters.
However, a definitive verdict has finally come in on where the long-term friendship stands today and exactly what went wrong behind the scenes.
A Spouse In The Way: The Ben Affleck Wedge That Damaged A Sisterhood
The turning point in the relationship arrived when Jennifer Lopez married Ben Affleck. The source told Page Six that the King of Queens star and the Oscar winner did not get along because she always assumed he would break Lopez’s heart.
The insider explained to the media outlet: “Leah and Ben never really clicked, and that definitely created a bit of a wedge between Jennifer and Leah for a period of time.”
This underlying tension boiled over when Leah Remini notably skipped Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s August 2022 wedding ceremony in Georgia, instead dining with her daughter at The Front Yard in North Hollywood, California.
Professional Strain: How Filming ‘Second Act’ Pushed The Pals Apart
While the friction surrounding Ben Affleck caused the final and permanent rift, the roots of their distance actually trace back further to their professional collaboration on the 2018 romantic comedy Second Act.
While working on the project, the famous ladies discovered a sad and brutal truth: they were going in very different directions with their decade-old friendship.
“There was so much constant time together during filming and the press tour that Jennifer eventually felt overwhelmed by the dynamic and started pulling back,” a source revealed. The insider added that “Jennifer eventually hit a point where she felt like she needed more space from the friendship, and Leah’s feelings were definitely hurt by that because she really valued how close they once were.”
Shared Heartbreak: Simultaneous 2024 Divorces Spark A Temporary Reunion
In a twist of fate, the bond was temporarily renewed in the summer of 2024 when both women simultaneously filed for divorce from their respective spouses. Lopez and Affleck ended their romance on their second wedding anniversary after the actor’s mental and physical checkup of the marriage. Leah Remini and her husband, Angelo Pagán, ended their 21-year marriage.
Reflecting on that period of mutual heartbreak and renewed connection, the scientologist whistleblower told Us Weekly in a June 2025 interview that they were at least briefly in contact and that they texted each other loving messages of support.
The comedian and podcast host insisted that she had never feuded with her longtime pal. She confessed that “sometimes you don’t talk to people every day like you used to, but that doesn’t mean the love is lost.”
She added that “friendships ebb and flow, and that doesn’t mean they’re at odds.”
The Current Reality: A Distant Bond As One Friend Longs For The Past
Despite that brief reconnection, Jennifer Lopez is still actively maintaining her distance today, while Leah Remini would greatly prefer to have back what they once shared.
An insider stated to Page Six that “Jennifer still has love for Leah and there’s no huge drama or anything like that, but the friendship just isn’t what it used to be.”
The source revealed that Leah definitely misses the closeness they had and would always be open to being super close again, but Jennifer’s just in a different place right now. For now, the source stated that they still care about each other; it is just a more distant friendship these days, rather than the tight bond people saw before.
