Here’s the Scoop on Why Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez Broke Up

It’s official—Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez have ended their engagement for real, and they announced their decision to split in a heartbreaking (yet seemingly amicable) joint statement to the Today show:

J.Lo and A-Rod seemed pretty perfect together, so it naturally begs the question: Why did they break up? According to People, trust had everything to do with it. “She insisted on it. There are are too many issues that are unresolved,” J.Lo’s friend told the outlet. “She has been pretty miserable and didn’t think it was in her best interests to stay with Alex.”

This isn’t a total shock considering that right before initial breakup rumors swirled, disputed claims of A-Rod getting close with Southern Charm star Madison LeCroy surfaced online. Back in January, a preview of Southern Charm’s reunion aired and star Craig Conover accused Madison of being a “f*cking home-wrecker” after accusing her of cheating on his friend Austen Kroll by having an affair with an unnamed major league baseball player.

“You were flying around the country sleeping with men, married men!” Craig said. “Ex–MLB players. That’s what you were doing during quarantine. You know why Austen was at my house? ’Cause you weren’t talking to him! You flew to Miami to f*ck an ex–MLB player.” From there, fans of the show went wild and drew a connection to A-Rod…even though he was engaged to J.Lo. 😬

FWIW, Madison denied the cheating rumors altogether and told Page Six that Alex “never physically cheated on his fiancée with me” (interesting wording) and explained she’s “talked to him randomly but not consistent” and in an “innocent” way. J.Lo and A-Rod later issued a statement to TMZ saying “all the reports are inaccurate” but they were “working through some things” that had nothing to do with a third party (*cough* like Madison *cough*).

Although it’s unclear if Madison was a catalyst for J.Lo and A-Rod’s split, a People source did add that the breakup was “a long time coming” when the initial reports hit the web. “They are tied in their business worlds so it’s not a cut-and-dried breakup. It’s taken a while for them to even think about untangling it all.”

But Madison may not have been the only contributing factor in J.Lo and A-Rod's split. Apparently J.Lo's ex, Ben Affleck, had been sending her some questionable emails while she was filming Shotgun Wedding in the Dominican Republic.

Amid new rumors that J.Lo and Ben are on the track to getting back together, TMZ reported that J.Lo and Ben's relationship has "been building since February" when Ben "started flooding her with emails." And TBH, it sounds like the emails were p flirty— "the tone of the emails wasn't just friendly...but more loving and longing for Jen." TMZ's sources also claimed that Ben told Jennifer how beautiful she looked after seeing pics of her in DR, and reportedly expressed a desire to be there with her.

So how does A-Rod feel about this Bennifer news? Well, a source told E! News that "A-Rod is shocked that J.Lo has moved on," and that "he truly thought they would be able to make it work and reconnect. He has been reaching out to J.Lo trying to meet with her and she has been very short with him." He's also "saddened" about about J.Lo recently linking up with Ben, and has reached out specifically to tell her "he's upset."

Wishing J.Lo and A-Rod two the best, even though they’re no longer together!

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