What Ben should know about J-Lo

It must be galling for an A-list Hollywood actor to see his latest co-star and New Best Friend universally mocked as a spoilt diva. After all, since they began filming the thriller Gigli late last year, Ben Affleck has become rather close to his leading lady, Jennifer Lopez, walking arm in arm on set with her while he whispered into her ear, as paparazzi photographs revealed in January.

So it was only natural that Affleck would want to tell the world how wrong we have all been about Ms Lopez's egomaniacal excesses. As he disclosed on American television this week, he, too, is ashamed to have had his initial suspicions about her. "I know I shouldn't have had those preconceptions," he confessed, "but I now realise how wrong I was." Still, he knew how to make amends. As he explained: "I thought I'd write a paragraph saying what a professional, decent person I think she is."

He then spent around $20,000 plastering that paragraph all over the movie trade papers Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. In huge display advertisements headlined, simply, "Jennifer", Affleck wrote "with love, respect and gratitude" how proud he was that Lopez had picked up a recent award and what a "wonderful example" she had been to him. "You have shown kindness, dedication, diligence, humility, graciousness of spirit, beauty in courage, great empathy, astonishing talent, real poise and true grace," he gushed. "You are every inch the consummate professional. It has been nothing but an honour and a pleasure to work with you. I only wish I were lucky enough to be in all your movies."

At the risk of questioning the actor's judgment - he is, after all, in the fragile stages of alcoholism recovery - we feel it is our duty to remind Mr Affleck why Ms Lopez, set to make $12 million from this latest film, is known as Holly-wood's greatest diva. As revealed in the contractual "riders" that must be agreed to before she will perform, J-Lo's backstage demands are greater than those of even Britney Spears and Mariah Carey - and she is leading a trend to ever more absurd requirements. "Nowadays what the studios are spending on a single star's demands could finance an entire movie," explains Steven Gaydos, executive editor of Variety. "One recent rider for a major male actor added $2 million to the cost of the movie. That's not surprising, once you take in the private jet, fuel, landing fees, staff and security, in addition to the regular demands such as masseuse, trailer and so on."

There is no sign of the trend slowing, Gaydos says. "The demands have been getting more extreme ever since a vegetarian chef was required for Jim Carrey's iguana." Once a star is as big as Lopez, she can make up the demands as she goes along. "It's like that joke, where does an 800lb gorilla sleep? Anywhere it wants," Gaydos reflects. "What does Jennifer Lopez get? Anything she wants."

This, our guide to the world's most demanding prima donnas, is dedicated to Ben Affleck in the hope that he reconsiders before it is too late.

The most demanding divas