Jennifer Lopez has responded to the criticism that she’s received for taking Ben Affleck‘s last name after their July wedding.

In a recent interview with Vogue the singer and actress explained that she’s proud to be Affleck’s wife and that taking his name was a simple matter of tradition.

“People are still going to call me Jennifer Lopez. But my legal name will be Mrs. Affleck because we’re joined together. We’re husband and wife. I’m proud of that. I don’t think that’s a problem,” Lopez said in response to a New York Times opinion piece in which she was accused of “surrendering to the power of love”.

Asked if she instead considered giving Affleck her last name, Lopez said: “No! It’s not traditional. It doesn’t have any romance to it. It feels like it’s a power move, you know what I mean?

“I’m very much in control of my own life and destiny and feel empowered as a woman and as a person,” she continued.

“I can understand that people have their feelings about it, and that’s okay, too. But if you want to know how I feel about it, I just feel like it’s romantic. It still carries tradition and romance to me, and maybe I’m just that kind of girl.”

Lopez and Affleck tied the knot officially at an intimate ceremony in Las Vegas in July. A reception was held in Georgia the following month where Lopez performed a new and unreleased song for her husband.

The song, seemingly titled ‘Can’t Get Enough’, includes the lyrics: “All night / I can feel the passion / In your eyes / I’m still in love with you.”

The celebrity couple were first engaged in 2002 before calling it quits two years later. Lopez and Affleck rekindled their relationship last year before getting engaged a year later in April 2022.