Reporters Were Apparently Banned from Asking Jennifer Lopez Questions About Her Marriage to Ben Affleck While She Promoted Her Film ‘Atlas’ This Week

While in Mexico City earlier this week at the premiere of her latest film, Atlas, Jennifer Lopez shut down a reporter who asked her about whether the divorce speculation surrounding her and husband Ben Affleck was real. Leaning in for effect, she said into her mic, “You know better than that.” (Her Atlas co-star Simu Liu also came to her defense, telling the reporter “Come on, don’t come in here with that energy, please.”)

Well, apparently, when Lopez said “You know better than that,” that reporter—and all reporters on Lopez’s Atlas press tour—did, actually, know better than that: Page Six reports that Lopez banned all questions about Affleck and their marriage at all of her Atlas premieres before scolding that particular reporter in Mexico City.

Atlas drops on Netflix today, and “the streaming giant warned media outlets covering the Los Angeles and Mexico City premieres earlier this week that personal questions were completely off the table,” Page Six reports. It’s also notable that Lopez never appeared alone for interviews, and was always backed up by co-stars Liu and Sterling K. Brown; it’s also notable that Affleck was absent for both premieres, though Marie Claire reported earlier this week that he was working himself, filming his upcoming movie The Accountant 2.

That was the same reason given as to why Affleck skipped the Met Gala on May 6 with Lopez, who was one of the night’s four co-chairs. Since then, rumors of marital strife have increased in fever pitch, as it appears there are clearly issues in the marriage, but that both seem hopeful to work it out.