Jennifer Lopez shocked even her closest friends over the weekend when she announced she was separating from husband of seven years, Marc Anthony. But now that the dust has settled, insiders are saying there have been signs of a marriage headed for failure for quite some time. "We have decided to end our marriage," the couple said in a statement to People. "This was a very difficult decision. We have come to an amicable conclusion on all matters."
But now new details are emerging that indicate the split isn’t as harmonious as the ex-couple would like us to believe. “We knew something was going on when Jennifer took her mother, Guadalupe, to meet the Royals at the BAFTA gala in Los Angeles instead of Marc,” an insider tells me. “Jennifer and Marc see themselves as the king and queen of Latino culture so this would been the perfect opportunity for one royal couple to be seen hanging with another.” Lopez's decision to make mama her plus one also signaled more than a few red flags that there may be trouble in paradise. “Whenever she breaks up with a man she surrounds herself with family,” a friend of the "American Idol" Judge tells me. “After her split from her fiancé, Ben Affleck, and before that Diddy, Jennifer flew her mom in to be by her side.” But what actually led the couple, who secretly wed at their Beverly Hills estate in 2004, to split? “Work is what ultimately is the blame,” a friend tells me.
Marc has spent the summer filming the TNT drama, "Hawthorne," while also maintaining his live performance schedule and Lopez has never been busier -- she's taping "Idol" and releasing her new album, "Love?" Additionally, the couple is working on a new reality show, "¡Q'Viva! The Chosen," in which they will search all over the world to find extraordinary talent. “I don’t know any relationship that could survive the juggling of schedules of both Jennifer and Marc,” an industry insider tells me. “Angelina and Brad years ago agreed that while one of them was working the other took time off. Unfortunately, knowing both Jen [and] Marc, I can tell you that neither of them is capable of putting their career on hold when a great or big paying opportunity comes along.” Just days after announcing the split, Jennifer’s people confirmed that she will be traveling to the Ukraine for a $1 million payday to perform a private show for a wealthy businessman.
Talk about not being able to say no.