Why JLo and Ben Affleck’s divorce is giving you schadenfreude

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are – after much, much, much speculation – getting divorced.
On Tuesday, Jennifer Lopez, 55, filed to divorce Ben Affleck, 52, in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to court filings obtained by USA TODAY. Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the estranged couple’s Georgia wedding ceremony. TMZ and Variety report their date of separation as April 26.
TMZ was first to report the news. USA TODAY has reached out to reps for Affleck and Lopez for comment.
This was the second marriage for Affleck and the fourth for Lopez. The two were engaged to each other twice: first in 2002 then again in 2021.
Rumors about their divorce have been circulating for months, many of them cheeky and downright cruel in nature. But why?
Watching rich and famous people crumble is an appetizing pastime for many – particularly when it comes to the ups and downs of celebrities.
But the lampooning of JLo and Ben Affleck may say more about us than it does about them. Experts say we can’t look away because of schadenfreude – finding joy in others’ hardships – and the ever-tantalizing appeal of a good story.
“There’s pleasure in watching rich people who seem to have it all and these (moments) remind us that, well, they really don’t have it all,” Elizabeth Cohen, associate professor at West Virginia University who researches psychology of media and pop culture, previously told USA TODAY. “And maybe they don’t even necessarily deserve it all.”
In case you’re reeling:Kevin Costner and the shock over divorce after a long-term marriage
A psychological theory called “social comparison” is behind our love for this drama, Cohen says. It posits that humans will always try and compare themselves to other people to figure out where they fit in the world. If you perceive someone is “better” than you, you fall into upward social comparison.
“The problem with upward social comparison is that it can be positive, but it makes you feel like you’re not where you need to be,” Cohen says. “So it can be motivational, but it can also make you feel bad about yourself.”
The flip side is downward social comparison, where you consume media solely to look down on others. Seeing Lopez and Affleck divorce makes people realize that they aren’t infallible, and therefore easy to project on and pile on.
“You watch these ridiculously wealthy people who have in a lot of ways, these enviable lives, but then they’re not,” Erica Chito-Childs, a sociology professor at Hunter College and The Graduate Center, CUNY, previously told USA TODAY.
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Reality TV and social media have shown us that even the rich and famous aren’t so perfect – and audiences evidently revel in that. Any move Lopez and Affleck make that’s even remotely cringey will be fodder for the vultures.
“We like watching other people behave in strange and bad ways,” Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at the Newhouse School of Public Communications Syracuse University, previously told USA TODAY. “We like watching other human beings melt down, regardless of their income status.”
It’s all part of what makes a good story. “There seems to be a narrative thread that we like watching people make this climb to wealth and status,” Thompson says. “But once they actually get there, one of the only narrative threads left is to watch them fall. And we do get a lot of schadenfreude pleasure out of that if you look at a lot of the examples of stories that we tell.”
Whether someone loves or hates (or loves to hate) this is a personal choice – not something ingrained in your brain.
“Why do some people hate this and why do some people like it? That’s not a question for science,” Thompson says. “That’s a question of show business.”
Either way, if you feel like you’re spending too much time focused on celebrities you don’t know, you probably are. It might be time to go explore your own block and stay off of Jenny’s.