Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez had one of Hollywood’s most high-profile relationships in many years and the actor turned director now says that the media hype affected his career.

The 35-year-old actor has probably learned his lesson after his highly publicized romantic relationship with J-Lo. The media loved the new couple, even dubbed them “Bennifer,” and then proceeded to chronicle every little detail of their lives.

It didn’t last long – the relationship. After a flourishing debut in 2002, on the set of their multi-Razzie-winning film “Gigli,” Ben and Jen enjoyed each other to the point of getting engaged and contemplating saying “I Do.”.

The marriage was ultimately cancelled and they separated. Both blamed the media scrutiny for their failed relationship and both have been discreet and tactful in interviews when asked about each other.

Ben Affleck, who is enjoying his directorial debut with the crime thriller “Gone, Baby, Gone,” has broken the silence regarding his romance with Jennifer Lopez. However, he is still focusing on the tabloids.

He tells Details magazine: “It was probably bad for my career. What happens is this sort of bleed-over from the tabloids across your movie work.”

“You go to a movie, you only go once. But the tabloids and Internet are everywhere. You can really subsume the public image of somebody. I ended up in an unfortunate crosshair position where I was in a relationship and [the media] mostly lied and inflated a bunch of salacious stuff for the sake of selling magazines.”

Ben has since married actress Jennifer Garner. They have a 2-year-old daughter, Violet. Jennifer married a third time, this time to longtime friend Marc Anthony. She is also rumored to be pregnant but so far has denied the speculations.

Life has moved on; Ben’s initial bad luck at the box office and with critics has turned into a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of actor George Reeves, the original Superman, in “Hollywoodland.”

Affleck’s “Gone, Baby, Gone” is set for release in late October. The crime thriller stars brother Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris.

Ben is currently filming “He’s Just Not That Into You,” an ensemble comedy that features Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly, Bradley Cooper, Kevin Connolly, Justin Long, Ginnifer Goodwin and Drew Barrymore.