Actor Ojani Noa was Lopez’s first husband before they divorced after less than a year

The man who was married to Jennifer Lopez before Ben Affleck shared a message for his ex amid her ongoing divorce.

Lopez filed for divorce from Affleck on August 20; exactly two years after they celebrated their love with a traditional wedding ceremony in Georgia in 2022.

It marked a sad day for longtime fans of the couple, who first started dating in the early noughties and even got engaged before they called it quits for the first time in 2004.

Affleck and Lopez rekindled their romance years after their first meeting (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Before all of that, however, Lopez was married to actor and producer Ojani Noa.

The couple met while Noa was working as a waiter in Miami and Lopez was filming her 1996 movie Blood and Wine, which also stars Jack Nicholson and Michael Caine.

After striking up a relationship, Lopez and Noa got married.

While looking back on their romance in an interview with the MailOnline, Noa recalled having to ‘not think about being on camera’ while trying to spend ‘quality time’ with Lopez.

He described himself as a ‘good husband’, but ultimately things didn’t work out between the pair as they divorced less than one year after tying the knot.

Noa and Lopez married in 1997 (Albert L. Ortega/WireImage)

Lopez went on to have three other husbands, Chris Judd, Marc Anthony, and most recently, Affleck.

However, Noa described himself as the ‘pioneer’.

He said: “I was the first, the pioneer. I was there at the beginning of her career supporting her, ­dealing with her anxieties and insecurities.”

With the singer now in the midst of her fourth divorce, Noa expressed his sympathy for both her and Affleck.

“There are no bad feelings at all,” he said of his relationship with Lopez. “I would always be her friend. I sympathise with both of them because divorce is hard.”

Noa encouraged Lopez to take ’12 months off’ (Manny Hernandez/Filmmagic)

Seemingly with her best interests in mind, Noa then shared a direct, no-nonsense message to his ex-wife.

“Stay single for a while, take 12 months off,” he said.

Noa continued: “If she meets someone new, maybe keep it private and not get ­married again.

“She has an amazing career and she’s a hard-working, beautiful woman, but when you’re with someone, you have to spend quality time with them and not think about being on camera.”

Building on his message, Noa added: “I would just say to Jen: you need to be yourself so you can find yourself.”

Lopez and Affleck were seen acting on good terms as they shared a lunch with their children recently, but a source close to the pair told People ‘they are still moving forward with the divorce’ and are ‘working out financial details amicably’.