People Magazine has an update on their news that Ben Affleck was moving out of the guest house on his family’s compound. We heard that this was imminent, and now it has happened. People’s source has quotes which are oddly specific, like the one I put in the title about how Ben isn’t even keeping any of his things at the house. He had like a whole separate area to himself and these people lived in a mansion so this makes it sound very… final, I guess, like someone wants us to know this is a permanent thing after so much back and forth. Don’t worry though, they’re still going to go to church together on Sundays as a family. Ben started doing that as soon as his image took a hit, but maybe he’s becoming more spiritual too. AA will do that to you.
A source tells PEOPLE Affleck has moved out of the guesthouse at the family’s Los Angeles-area home weeks after the actor and Garner officially filed for divorce, as the ex-couple work to make the transition as manageable as possible for their children.
“The family house is for Jen and the kids now, Ben won’t have any things at the house,” the source says. “The kids are doing well. They have been to Ben’s new house.”
Another source previously told PEOPLE that the actor was moving nearby to make sure the kids — Violet, 11, Seraphina, 8, and Samuel, 5 — were “comfortable” with the move. “He’s moving fairly close by and it’s all in step with what they’ve always said was the most important thing: their children.” Moving trucks were spotted outside the family home this past weekend.
“He’s doing well and together they are taking steps to make sure this transition is as easy as it can be on the family,” a source close to Affleck tells PEOPLE.
But amid the changes, one thing is expected to remain constant: Sunday family time. Affleck was with the family over the weekend, and the first source notes that “Sundays have always been a special family day with church and dinner.”
Affleck also spent quality time with his oldest daughter this past weekend at a father-daughter dance at her school. The actor took Seraphina to the dance in a limo, and “they were walking around hand-in-hand, smiling,” the source adds.
I’m glad they’re doing this for their own sake and their kids’ sake, and even if things are acrimonious behind the scenes they’re not letting their public facade crack. This is about keeping a united front despite splitting. While we’ve heard that Ben is “dating,” there’s no mention of that in this article, but I would bet it’s behind the fact that he’s not even keeping a spare pair of sneakers at his family’s house. I hope Ben knows how much Jen has rehabbed, and probably saved, his image. We don’t need these constant status reports but that’s part of their strategy too – blanket the press with somewhat boring stories about this average divorce and make it sound completely normal and like it’s not even worth paying attention to. This has worked actually. It’s just a matter of time before Ben is papped out with a new woman, but maybe he’ll be able to keep that under wraps for a while.
Affleck is shown at Wondercon on 5-1-17 and outside church on 4-30. (He went this weekend too.) Credit: WENN.com
He comes across as self absorbed and one dimensional. And yes, he should kiss the ground Jennifer walks on because she saved that image he tries so hard to keep.
Being Ben Affleck’s enabling doormat for 10+ years is nothing to be proud of or thanked for.
People act like Jen is so much better than Ben, but let’s face it: the guy is (and has always been) a selfish, narcissistic jackass. A smarter woman would have kicked him out YEARS ago, or better yet, never married him and had three band-aid kids to begin with. Who is worse here, the jerk or the woman who puts up with it for more than a decade? Was there a gun to her head? Plenty of people think that she’s pathetic for clinging to him for as long as she did.
They have three kids. Those kids would be ground zero for gossip about their father, or acrimony in the divorce. Whatever she is like and whatever her motives, you only have to glance at the way a slew of people – famous and civilian – manage situations such as this to recognise she shielded her kids. What motives she had don’t seem to matter that much, alongside. Did he deserve it? Almost certainly not. Did the kids? Every single scrap.
@K Yeah, I disagree. People who are genuinely trying to shield their kids don’t gleefully drag them in front of the paparazzi every day. She could literally move anywhere or have the nannies take them to school — there are things she could do that would make their everyday lives easier. She doesn’t. They had no real reason to issue that press release that they were divorcing other than the fact that Ben had screwed up and Jen was trying to save face. It exposed the kids to two years of scrutiny, which was just unnecessary especially when she wasn’t 100% sure that she wanted to divorce him and proceeded to drag it out. Could have easily said “no comment” to all questions about their marriage but both went on a co-parenting “we’re so amicable” media tour.
Their kids come second. First will always be their public image.
Are you sure that’s Ben Affleck? Man, he really needs to quit it with the botox and plastic surgery.
he looks like jon favreau in that first pic
Also D’Onofrio and Vince Vaughn.
Nothing says “trying to keep it normal for the kids” like erasing all aspects of the other person from their home. Not that I think this is Jen, this is Ban all over it.
I certainly hope they will have pictures, etc up.
I can’t imagine they’d get rid of photos. I mean, maybe. But I would imagine they’d at least have a photo collage or something in the kids’ rooms. With how ‘together’ they’ve been parenting since the separation, I can’t see it being a total removal of stuff, either – probably just clothes and personal trinkets and stuff of that nature.
I don’t know man, this breakup kind of bummed me out. I do give them credit for really taking the separation and stuff slowly for the kids – and they have done a good job at keeping a united front in most aspect as far as I can tell.
I am sure she would let pictures around of them as a family. Wedding pictures and pictures of them only might be a different story!
Ben Affleck wears ill fitting suits that looks 2 sizes too small for him. He always looks annoyed and very unapproachable. It’s a wonder how Jennifer Garner put up with him for that many years.
Yea I’m guessing this has everything to do with the rumors he’s dating again or worse seeing the nanny. Also the article is wrong Sera is their youngest daughter.
Where did this whole ‘seeing the nanny again’ stuff start? Is it even remotely legit? Details? I’m genuinely curious because Ben Affleck is so image-obsessed that I can’t imagine he’d open that old wound unless she’s his soulmate or something.
I’ve seen it buried in a few articles including (I think) on here. I don’t think it’s true but the rumors have been circulating
I think the rumors started because he was seen in NYC incognito a few weeks ago and the nanny is said to be working in some capacity on a network tv (nbc?…I don’t remember…probably a “job” fixed by Ben himself as part of her hush exit) and whereas I think that he was there on a “romantic” mission I don’t think the love interest is the nanny. He CAN’T be such an idiot. Or he could? In any case I think his new woman lives and/or works in NYC
He was hardly incognito. He posed for multiple fan pictures.
Seems like they’re FINALLY moving on with their lives. Their previous arrangement was unhealthy.
Agreed. I hope he stays sober and she gets therapy on how to move with her life as well.
I really wonder how long the shared vacations and holidays will honestly continue. Jen will find a new partner and Ben will find a new Mommy-Wife. I don’t think a normal person would want to spend every vacation with their SO’s ex. I think that eventually their whole for-the-kids!1! schtick will fly out the window and they’ll divide everything like everyone else does.
This is all planted to People to make it perfectly clear to everyone that it is over so that Ben can openly date now and is doing nothing wrong by dating since its over. I think he has been dating someone for awhile now but keeping it TIGHTLY underwraps. Twitter traffic still suggests it is the Nanny and that he has gone to great lengths to keep it secret. He MAY even throw in a couple of fake dates to throw everyone off.
I think to some extent that Jen fakes her smiles and friendliness around Ben for the kids and public perception. She never usually walks beside him, always ahead or behind. I think they meet up at church on Sundays and then the rest of the day is one of his visitation days and he goes off with them.
I don’t think Jen is faking anything around him anymore. In pap pics when she’s not with him, she usually seems very happy, but when he’s around (like church strolls), she looks very grim. He’s like her own personal storm cloud.
If Ben is still with the nanny he better be prepared for an utter sh*tstorm of negative publicity and bad press. Would he really be that crazy, to be with her? With the buffet of dating options he now has within reach, allmost of whom would be fresh to the public so less controversial.
Wouldn’t someone have tracked the nanny to LA by now. She’d left and moved to the Caribbean or FL if memory serves. Twitter and Instagram users aren’t under control of the tabs or publicists; someone would have spotted and tattled.
Man, the power of those demons.
I can’t see him wanting the aggro of a ‘bona fuse’ making demands and having expectations he does want to meet. Weekend dad? Sure. Movie Star? Sure. Banging randoms? Sure. Steady-Eddy? Doubt it. She’s the one who’s going to get married again–she doesn’t do alone.
I actually wouldn’t be surprised if she steps out with someone new first.
1. optics are better
2. its easy to forget she was a bit of a homewrecker herself in her younger years, and overlap seemed to happen more than once.
thank you! how quickly people forget that she cheated herself at least twice – once with Michael Vartan while she was married to Scott Foley and then again with Ben Affleck while she was with Vartan. girlfriend is NO angel despite what she tries to convince the Minivan Majority. and I agree completely that she does not do alone. I read on another gossip site that she’s been seeing someone on the DL. would put money on her stepping out with someone “new” first.
Jen needs big time therapy. She wanted out early on according to some stories and they were on and off several times in between the years. Ben didn’t want to. He was and is the bully here. Remember the “shadow” sentence on Vanity Fair. A lot of meaning there….
Sure.
Ben didn’t want to what? Stay married to her? I’m sure he didn’t. That does not make him a bully. Forcing someone to stay in a marriage that they want to end, parading their children around to gain empathy and sympathy for yourself is bullying.
My interpretation of the VF shadow comment was that just what she said. He is charming and lovely when he’s in the game. When he is not (and being the one that wanted out) charm is off.
Yes, Jen needs therapy. She needs recognizing that we all have a part to play in how our relationships go. He needs it too, for sure.
I think it’s inevitable that at some point, Jen will go on the offensive and her team will start to sneakily trash Ben. Maybe it’s already started. Blind Gossip has an item up right now about a divorced man whose house and hygiene are a wreck. Some guessed Ben, others guessed Brad Pitt (it’s probably both of them tbh). Jen doesn’t have much of a career left outside of the tabloids. Being Mrs. Affleck was basically her biggest draw for the past 10 years. She is well behind others in her age group for the great roles. Her options are to land another high-profile husband or leak stuff to the tabloids about Ben to make herself look better. Saint Jen the Victim and Martyr could probably extend her 15 minutes for another couple of years.
Odd that the People article came out after Radar Online reported that he still had stuff there and was in fact spending a lot of time there because his place was too quiet. At this point I don’t think any news outlet is particularly credible. There have been continuous contradictions. I still think they were heading towards a reconciliation and then something went really wrong. All of the sudden there is rehab, divorce filing, new house. I think the Blind about the Four Conditions was on target.
Agree. Something happened around Christmas holidays that blew everything up. I think the blinds are more accurate than the tabloids.
Agreed-that was such a cheesy article. That picture was instantly recognizable from the movie. People wrote that he took his eldest daughter to the dance when clearly it was his youngest. All of the tabloids have had some accurate gossip, but many inaccurate statements as well. I doubt It is an amicable split. I believe in time “the big story” will come out. Too many people know things…
There was blind on Foxella about Jennifer Garner. It was dated April 30th. It said that the reason Jen ended her marriage to Ben was because she had a miscarriage. It named both of them as the identities of the blind
I don’t know if that is true but a lot of those blinds have been right!
I love Ben and Jen think people want a play by play of their divorce.