Ben has recalled the abuse Jennifer received (Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Ben Affleck has addressed his relationship with Jennifer Lopez, saying that his ex-fiancée was hit with ‘sexist and racist’ abuse. 

The pair were famously engaged in the early noughties and became known as ‘Bennifer’ as their relationship coincided with the rise of the internet and tabloid magazines. 

Ben and Jen split in early 2004 after 18 months together but remain friends, and Ben, 48, has looked back on the cruel taunts Jennifer, now 51, was subjected to during their romance.

Speaking on the Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Ben said: ‘People were so f***ing mean about her — sexist, racist. Ugly, vicious s*** was written about her in ways that if you wrote it now you would literally be fired for saying those things you said.

‘Now it’s like, she’s lionised and respected for the work she did, where she came from, what she accomplished — as well she f***ing should be! I would say you have a better shot, coming from the Bronx, of ending up as like [Justice Sonia] Sotomayor on the Supreme Court than you do of having Jennifer Lopez’s career and being who she is at 50 years old today.’

Ben and Jennifer met on the set of the critically-panned Gigli in 2002 and began dating, becoming engaged in November 2002.