Ana Navarro tried using Matt Damon to set up Ben Affleck and Shakira after actor’s 2nd Jennifer Lopez split

“I want better for Shakira though. From a dating standpoint, he seems a little messy,” Navarro’s “View” cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin added.

Ana Navarro has admitted that she once tried to bring her oft-referenced group of celebrity connections even closer, revealing Monday on The View that she previously attempted to use Matt Damon to set up Shakira and Ben Affleck, amid the latter’s second breakup with Jennifer Lopez.

Navarro, 54, said on the talk show that, while she “never met Ben Affleck,” she “tried to set him up once” before.

“I was at a Shakira concert in Miami, and Matt Damon was there with his wife and his girls,” the Republican panelist recalled during a Hot Topics discussion about Affleck recounting a comical interaction he had with his daughter, who lightly jabbed him for having a rocky romantic past.

“Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are friends, and it had just come out that J.Lo and Ben Affleck were breaking up. So, Shakira had broken up with her husband…” Navarro said, connecting the dots for the audience regarding her thought process at the time.

“I think she’s friends with J.Lo,” added fellow Republican cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin, prompting Navarro to observe, “Matt Damon said that could be complicated. Enough time has passed where I think Ben Affleck needs to give Shakira [a call], and Shakira needs to give Ben Affleck [a call].”

Griffin doubled down on her opposition, however: “I want better for Shakira though. From a dating standpoint, he seems a little messy,” she said, while moderator Whoopi Goldberg stepped in to advise against speculation on other people’s dating lives.

“None of us know because we only know what’s happening in our back yards, so, we don’t know what happens in relationships,” the EGOT-winning actress said, though Navarro and fellow panelist Sara Haines continued coming up with pet names for a potential Affleck-Shakira romance, including “BenShar” and “ShakEn.”

Shakira and Lopez famously fronted the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show together, years before her 2022 marriage to Affleck. Lopez and the Oscar winner were famously engaged in the early aughts, ultimately splitting before they ever tied the knot.

Often referred to as “Bennifer,” the pair reconciled in 2021 and wed the following year. Lopez and Affleck again split up in 2024, with their divorce finalized in 2025.

Lopez is far from Affleck’s only major romantic partner of the past. The two-time Academy Award winner was famously married to Jennifer Garner from 2005 to 2018, and was previously romantically involved with his Shakespeare in Love costar, Gwyneth Paltrow.

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As for Lopez, the star was married on several prior occasions, including to fellow recording artist Marc Anthony (2004-2014), as well as Cris Judd (2001-2003), and Ojani Noa (1997-1998).

Via: Entertainment Weekly