I was surprised at how many people cared about Friday’s story, from the National Enquirer, that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were rumored to be fighting at a post-Oscar party. It seemed like an obvious scenario to me – Ben said his marriage was work during one of the most important, most public moments of his life, his Academy Award acceptance speech. Most people would have some choice words for their partner in that same situation, so it just seemed natural to me that Jen would have asked Ben what the hell he was thinking in that moment. Some of you disagreed and thought it was just Ben being honest. Marriages are work from most people’s perspective. I get that, but an Oscar speech is the time to gush about your marriage, you can call it work during a sit-down print interview.

The Enquirer then heaped on a bunch of other rumors about those two – that they’re fighting because Ben wants more another baby and Jen is done, and that Ben is rumored to have cheated with Blake Lively while they were making The Town. (We didn’t even include that segment, it was just a line or two toward the end of the article. I think Ben just had a kind of “emotional” affair with Blake, but who knows? They were very chummy in interviews.) We do know that Ben consistently praised other women during his Oscar press tour, and seemed much more reserved and almost passive aggressive in some of the things he said about his wife.

The two stepped out together on Saturday with their daughters at a street fair in Pacific Palisades and were seen kissing and embracing. They’ve only posed together once on the red carpet that I know of, at the VF party after Ben won the Oscar. We’ve seen candid family moments with them, but affectionate moments aren’t that common. I do think they get hounded by the paparazzi and don’t personally call them or anything, but instead of engaging in evasive maneuvers they just kind of go with it, smile and play along. At least Jen does, Ben often looks grumpy and fed up. (And who can blame him? I’m just saying.)

So is this just a spontaneous moment, or is this Ben’s way of playing the game after a negative story came out in the Enquirer? He seems like he pays attention to the tabloid press and actively tries to counter stories that come out without issuing direct denials. That could be part of the reason he said his marriage was “work,” he thought that everyone was talking about it, he may as well address it. Except all he did was add more fuel to the gossip fire. That said, these photos are really cute and they look solid. Even if Ben is just trying to counter negative stories, at least he’s trying.

Photo credit: FameFlynet