Getting hitched in Las Vegas last year seemed to be a fairytale Hollywood ending for Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, but an insider says the honeymoon period is well and truly over as the pair are clashing over the many pets they have, Between the two of them, there are eight dogs and one cat living in their £48.7mil Beverley Hills mansion and Jen is losing patience with how soft on them Ben, 51, is, according to an insider.

“It’s a complete zoo at the house. None of the dogs are properly trained, so they’re constantly barking and racing around the house chasing the cat, it’s chaos and of course it drives them both nuts,” they say. “Jen swears she’s the only one that ever disciplines them or deals with their mess, she’s always nagging Ben to help out more and to at least pick up their poop.
“His answer is to hire people to do it for them, which is logical, but it really bugs Jennifer because he has more than enough time on his hands right now to do it himself so in her view, he’s just being lazy.”

In 2021, a van from animal clean up company POOP 911 was spotted pulling up to Ben’s LA home. Jennifer has also been a frequent customer of the same poop scoop company. Before getting back together with Ben in 2021 after 18 years apart, Jen, 54, had boxer dogs Roxy and Bear, Labradors Lady and Buddy, Mastiff Champ and goldendoodle Tyson – who she adopted for her son Max 15, in 2020. In December 2021, she introduced a kitten, Hendrix, to her fans on Instagram.

Jen – who is also mum to Max’s twin Emme, 15 with ex Marc Antony – hit the headlines in 2016 for treating her pups to a glamorous spa day. During the family’s vacation in the Hamptons, Jennifer paid a local dog spa to close to the public, so that Roxy, Bear, Lady, Buddy, and Champ could have complete privacy. After arriving in a limo, they spent the day getting massages, hot oil treatments, pedicures, baths and blow-dries. This led to local Hamptons residents complaining that they had to wait until the late afternoon before their dogs could book an appointment.

Ben adopted German Shepherd Hutch in 2015 with his ex-wife Jennifer Garner and later got Labrador Martha. Then, a month after Ben and Jen got hitched, the pair were spotted leaving an animal shelter with a cardboard box, sparking a rumour they had added another furry friend to the family. The insider explains all of the pets have a fondness for Ben and it’s irritating Jen because she’s the only one who runs around after them.

“The pets all seem to gravitate towards Ben, to the point that Jennifer gets jealous. She makes jokes about being chopped liver but as much as she laughs, there really is an element of truth to it. The dogs especially can’t seem to get enough of Ben, they all race to him when he walks in the room. If he leaves the house they start whining and want to follow him. Jennifer has to give them treats to get them to calm down,” the source shares, adding, “Basically, he gets all the perks, with none of the work, which is one of her biggest frustrations with him. When she gets riled up, she typically complains about how easy Ben’s had it in life, and how entitled that’s made him, so no doubt this whole pet issue is a trigger for a much bigger issue between them. But Ben doesn’t get it at all and acts like the whole thing is hilarious.”

Oscar winner Ben – who shares daughters Violet, 17 and Seraphina, 13, and Samuel, 11 with his ex-wife Jennifer – even teases Jen in front of his friends about being jealous of their dogs and it infuriates the singer.
They say, “He claims it’s all in good fun, but there’s a passive aggressive element, too. Jennifer is confrontational but Ben’s style is to do these micro-aggressions and get under her skin. It’s all super childish and not exactly toxic but it’s not healthy either. “They do really love each other but they’re both such dominant personalities, it’s hard. And then with all the pressure that comes along with their high profile, it all gets magnified.”

It’s not the first time the couple have a war of words since tying the knot in Las Vegas in July 2022. In May, photos appeared to show Jen and Ben having strong words on the red carpet of the premiere of her film, The Mother. Days later, a video of Ben looking frustrated and slamming the passenger door of his car after Jennifer got in went viral on social media.
Fans took to Twitter to comment that Ben looked “miserable” and “stressed.” Another said, “He always looks like he’s fed up and annoyed.” Then, shortly after that, video footage emerged of the couple in a tense conversation in the car when they stopped at a red light. Ben, who was driving, looked visibly upset as he talking to Jennifer as she sat in the passenger seat.

Jennifer, however, appeared more reserved and quiet as her husband spoke and gestured wildly throughout the discussion. The tourist that filmed the exchange said it was ‘pretty clear’ by Ben’s body language that he “was frustrated or irritated” while Jennifer appeared “timid”. “There were a lot of hand gestures, Ben was waving his hands up and down and it looked heated,” she said.

And it isn’t just cleaning up after the animals that has ruffled Jennifer’s feathers – it’s also Ben’s teenage behaviour around the house, including leaving the toilet seat up and leaving towels strewn about their home.

The source says, “Jennifer has been raging on Ben a lot due to his bad habits.”
“She’s tried and tried to train Ben on good bathroom etiquette, but he just doesn’t get it. He leaves the toilet seat up, never replaces the toilet tissue, leaves the sink area a mess and doesn’t fix the towels after he’s used them.”

The pair have even been sleeping in different rooms.“They have separate bedrooms and their own master bathrooms, but it’s the common spaces she’s talking about. She’s on his case but Ben doesn’t seem to care.

“He did a good job of hiding it when he was wooing her. He was on his best behaviour. All she had to say was’ jump’ and he’d say how high. But now that he’s got his prize, the honeymoon stage is over and his true nature is coming out and unfortunately he does not take well to being told what to do, especially by his wife. And Jennifer doesn’t seem to get it at all because she’s constantly nagging him.”