Inside Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Shocking’ Solo Met Gala Appearance Without Husband Ben Affleck

Jennifer Lopez shocked fans by celebrating her special night as co-chair of the 2024 Met Gala solo, without her husband, Ben Affleck, accompanying her on the red carpet.

“Ben not being at the Met Gala with Jen, even though he’s got a great excuse, he’s working, is causing more questions than either of them want,” an insider exclusively tells In Touch on Tuesday, May 7. “Even the red carpet fashion commentators were confused, thinking Ben would be right behind Jen, but nope, she went solo, which shocked a lot of people.”

The source says that “everyone just assumed” that the Batman actor, 51, would be “by her side on fashion’s biggest night” especially since she was handpicked by Anna Wintour herself to serve as a cochair.

Despite his absence, Jennifer, 54, stunned on the red carpet for the prestigious fashion fundraiser, which she co-chaired alongside A-listers Zendaya, Bad Bunny and Chris Hemsworth. The “Jenny From the Block” artist wore a custom strapless Schiaparelli Haute Couture gown that featured 2,500,000 silver foil bugles and beads, taking over 800 hours to hand embroider.

Also perfectly hitting the gala’s “Garden of Time” theme, the songstress told Vogue on the red carpet that the neckline was made to resemble butterfly wings.

Ben and Jen have yet to make their Met Gala debut. The pair, who rekindled their romance in 2021, attended the event that year, however, did not pose for photos together on the red carpet. Instead, the Good Will Hunting actor joined Jennifer inside for a PDA-filled date night.

One night before the 2024 event, Ben was on the other side of the country attending Tom Brady’s Netflix roast in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 5. The Air actor joined the likes of Peyton Manning, Rob Gronkowski, Kevin Hart, Nikki Glaser, Kim Kardashian and more, as they roasted the NFL star. While Ben received mixed reviews on his six-minute monologue, fans were more curious if the movie star had undergone plastic surgery after debuting a new crease-free face.

“This doesn’t look like Ben Affleck…” one fan tweeted after the special aired. Meanwhile, another user wrote, “Ben Affleck’s plastic surgery is so bad that it makes Tom Brady’s new face look decent.”

After the plastic surgery speculation hit the internet, Ben placed the blame on Jennifer for influencing him to get injectable fillers.

“Ben’s comedy roast of Tom Brady seems to have backfired …[He] ended up igniting a firestorm about his own appearance. He’s furious because he’s getting slammed for fillers and Botox that Jen pushed him to get,” a separate source exclusively told In Touch on May 7. “Ben’s upset with Jen because if it wasn’t for her, he would never get work done, but she’s convinced him that everybody in Hollywood does a little facial maintenance, including his good friends, like Matt Damon.”