This year’s Venice Film Festival garnered some major attention for the many premieres it hosted—from Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet’s red carpet looks at the Dune premiere, to the awards show buzz for Kristen Stewart during the Spencer premiere. But the one debut that got the most attention wasn’t even a movie: It was the official red carpet reveal of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s 2.0 romance. And can you blame us for practically swooning? Look at that gorgeous couple—that woman is 52 years old! How?!
Anyway, Lopez accompanied Affleck to Italy, where he was in town to promote The Last Duel, the movie he co-wrote with Matt Damon. And over the last week, paparazzi photos have shown the couple sightseeing, cuddling, and generally being glamorous.
But the excitement quickly became overwhelming as the couple tried to depart the city from Venice’s Marco Polo Airport. According to TMZ, a fan looking for a selfie got a little bit too aggressively close while pushing his way toward the stars with his phone held up. As if to defend Lopez, Affleck stepped forward and put his hands on the unknown man’s shoulders to restrain him from moving any closer. He didn’t wait for the bodyguards, and instead jumped into action to defend J.Lo. (TMZ has pictures from the incident here.) Eventually, the couple’s bodyguard got the fan to back up, and the duo continued through the airport with their heads down, but still looking happy.
Though we don’t know for sure why Bennifer 1.0 broke up for the first time all the way back in 2004, many speculated that the nonstop media attention became too intense for the couple. Here’s hoping that the same thing doesn’t happen all over again—and that fans learn to keep their hands to themselves.