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The media frenzy around Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s relationship apparently played a huge role in their eventual split.

Speaking on The Howard Stern Show, the Argo director got candid about the pressures of dating in the public eye and having J.Lo call off their engagement in 2004.

“I would say [media attention] was about 50 percent [of what destroyed our relationship]. The idea that people hate you and they hate you together and that being together is poison and ugly and toxic and the thing none of us want to be part of,” the Oscar winner said. “And, ‘Who the fuck would want to have them to dinner?’ And, ‘What the fuck are they doing together?'”

The couple first started dating in 2002, immediately becoming a target of tabloids and public opinion. They got engaged the following year before ultimately splitting in 2004.

Of their breakup, Affleck confessed, “I got fucking hurt and angry, and felt like a fool.”

The two reconciled earlier this year, though not without some hesitation on Affleck’s part.

“My responsibility to my children is the highest responsibility I have,” he said, referring to his kids—Violet, 16, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9—whom he shares with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. “So I won’t do anything that’s painful or destructive to them if I can help it.”

He continued, “That being said, I know that my life affects them. I dropped my son off at school two days ago, and he’s the only one who will talk about it. He’s nine years old, and there’s a bunch of the older boys out there doing some toy drive or something, and I heard them go, ‘Oh, Ben Affleck, Ben Affleck.’ And my kid looks at me and goes, ‘Hashtag welcome to my life.'”

Before they split, Affleck and J.Lo released a joint statement explaining why they were postponing their wedding, blaming the media frenzy surrounding the occasion.