Ben Affleck and Lindsay Shookus spent Valentine's Day doing a little house hunting: https://t.co/nHZmGbgBg1 pic.twitter.com/k2I9jwaOpH
— E! News (@enews) February 16, 2018
Lindsay Shookus and Ben Affleck are still together, just FYI. They’re also still dressing like twinsies. They went house hunting on Valentine’s Day, I believe this is their second trip looking for mansions that we’ve heard about, and frankly I’m jealous. I wouldn’t trade places with either of them, but I wish I could go look at mansions and compounds and actually be able to afford one. According to E!, which sounds like they’re getting updates straight from Affleck’s camp, these two spent their Valentine’s Day dressed mostly in black with matching gray shirts and looking at homes in the $8-$10 million price range. After they arrived back at Affleck’s place, a very large assortment of Valentine’s balloons was delivered. I can’t imagine Lindsay was able to take those back to New York with her, but that sounds thoughtful if not practical.
On Wednesday, Valentine’s Day, Affleck and Shookus went house-hunting in the upscale coastal Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, a few miles away from the home where Garner lives with her and Affleck’s three kids, E! News has learned.
“Ben and Lindsay spent Valentine’s Day house hunting in Pacific Palisades,” an eyewitness told E! News. “They visited two homes in the $8 million-$10 million range with a broker who gave them tours.”
Affleck, who maintains a separate residence in Los Angeles, and Shookus, who has a home in New York City with her daughter, have not commented.
The two showed some PDA during their romantic house hunting trek.
“While Ben and Lindsay were waiting for the first house to be opened, Ben grabbed Lindsay on the doorstep and pulled her in close for a hug,” the eyewitness continued. “They were swaying back and forth hugging and laughing. He kissed her on the forehead. He walked with his arm around her and put his hand on her lower back. They seemed very happy and close. They spent about 20 minutes at each house and left with flyers showing the price and layouts of each. They went back to Ben’s house for the afternoon.”
“After they returned home, a delivery arrived with an enormous balloon arrangement of Valentine’s themed balloons,” the eyewitness said. “There were big pink hearts, glitter hearts, flower balloons and all types of things that made up a giant creation. It was so big the delivery man had trouble getting it out of the truck. He made it up to Ben’s gate and left the delivery.”
As E! mentioned, Lindsay lives and works in New York, she’s a producer for Saturday Night Live, and her child is there. I can’t imagine that these two will be able to live together or even visit each other more than a couple of weekends a month, which seems to be their current schedule. It takes about five and a half hours to fly from NY to LA and while they’re surely flying private that’s got to wear on them. It probably keeps their relationship fresh though, and I imagine it works for now. It worked for Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux for a few years too.
Ben’s status as Batman is still thought to be up in the air. It’s the 15th anniversary of his clunker of a superhero movie with Jennifer Garner, Daredevil, with The Telegraph and Men’s Health publishing pieces on what a disaster it was. The Telegraph even titled their story “How Ben Affleck Almost Burnt Marvel to the Ground.” It’s behind a paywall but you can read it if you register for an account. The gist is that Ben overplayed the part while Garner played it safe, but of course there were so many other people to blame as well. So we have this feel good story about Ben shopping for houses with Lindsay and how romantic it is. Did he learn nothing from his public relationship with Jennifer Lopez?
Meanwhile Jennifer Garner was seen hugging a “mystery man” this week. The photos are exclusives, as are the pictures of Affleck and Shookus on Valentine’s Day, but you can see them on Metro.co.uk. It just looks like a side hug from a friend as they’re walking somewhere. I doubt there’s much more to see there.
Also several outlets are making a big deal out of these photos of Affleck and Garner outside their son’s basketball practice. They don’t look like they’re arguing to me, but the tabloids are suggesting that’s what happened. They’re probably just annoyed that the paparazzi are there.
Photos credit: Backgrid. These are photos you may have already seen of Affleck and Shookus out in NY in late January.
They live in LA, of course the paparazzi is going to be there! They probably called in their own tip.
The “eyewitness” was apparently with them all day… from visiting two homes, spending 20 minutes at EACH and leaving with flyers, cuddling on the front porch of one, went back to Ben’s house for the afternoon, where a large balloon arrangement was delivered, and the eyewitness described it in detail.
That wasn’t staged at all…
Meanwhile, Jennifer posted on her IG that her three kids and their classmates spent Valentines day putting together food packets for a charitable organization for kids, and posted a picture of her dog as her “Galentine.”
Bwahahaha if this weren’t real life with kids, it would be so fun to watch play out.
The pic of her and the mystery many appears to have been taken in front of her church, and that’s a standard church hug, so there’s that.
Nope. One of my friends works for the realtor who was at the showings and there were no other people there — they were private.
The eyewitness part made me LOL. It really feels like Affleck and Garner are trying very hard to get at one another via the press. smh
“It worked for Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux for a few years too.”
THE SHADE OF IT ALL. Hahahaha!
Right?! I just cackled!!!
Doesn’t suck to be able to house hunt in the $10 million range
He looks terrible.
And maybe I’m weird, but I wouldn’t want to live in a compound or one of those mega mansions. A big house would be more than sufficient. Every time I see pics of famous people’s fancy houses, it never looks like people could actually live there. No thanks.
He does look terrible. This isn’t standard aging, this is alcohol damage he has tried to fix via plastic surgery.
They can buy Jennifer Aniston’s home.
The Shade!! I love it!
I’m done with the internet today. You’ve won. Thanks for the huge snort-laugh in my office; now I can continue my human life.
Some guy on DM says that his relative was at one of the open houses- and the pap Shira totally staged. That word is Ben is back in inpatient rehab – and he was out for the day to do photo ops. I really hope he is – get better for his kids.
I don’t believe that at all. Based on the totally insane comments that people post in Ben/Jen/LS stories on there, it is probably one of the crazy obsessed Garner stans.
Ben was allegedly spotted in South Africa a couple of weeks ago with Matt Damon. SNL has been off since the Super Bowl and she was probably with him.
Chicken or the egg: Ben deciding to move in with his girlfriend or Jen photographed snuggling with some dude…?
Ben and his gf bought an apartment in NYC to share months ago. Jen wasn’t snuggling with some dude, she got a friendly hug from a pastor at her church.
Don’t trust those pastors. LOL
I would bet she has geographic restrictions in her custody agreement that force her to stay in New York to exercise her periods of possession. And if she moves she’d still have to go New York to spend that time with her child. If she moves to LA, I wouldn’t be surprised if her ex tried to get the custody agreement changed since she’d basically be an absentee parent at that point. If Ben is serious about being hands on with his kids, then do they just plan to be long distance for the next 10 or 15 years? I can’t imagine this relationship will last.
She can’t move to LA. She has a great job in NYC. She’s not leaving that job. They will be bi-coastal. She has some flexibility with her job.
This is the longest period I’ve seen him go without acting. I wonder what offers he’s getting. He has The Accountant when that script gets written by I think someone else and preproduction done and ready to film. So that’s not anytime soon.
Yes, someone witnessed it and said it was totally staged. It was as if Ben was filming a movie. I wonder why he needed to do that? He probably needed a location manager for that pap stroll . 🙂
probably because of that story a few days ago that he misses his life with Jen and the kids and that Shookup knew his heart was still with Jen and family.
RME that was In Touch and clearly isn’t true. He isn’t checking for Jen and hasn’t for literally years at this point. Sorry, but her fans are going to have to get over the fact that she got dumped and Ben has moved on.
From the looks of it, Ben isn’t missing anything with Jen. Poor In Touch, still operating like it’s 2015 and clinging to the hope of a reconciliation. LOL, pathetic.
I don’t believe that at all. He does not miss the life he has been disdaining for years. That is Jen fan nonsense.
LOL if you actually believe that someone was at an open house for a $10m home in LA and then ran home to post in the Daily Mail comments section, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
Exactly. It’s hilarious. This guy appears on DM and tells people he lives in Ben/Jen’s neighborhood and has “insider” knowledge about them, and all of the crazies immediately jump all over it because they so desperately want it to be true. They’ll take any unsubstantiated morsel given to them about Ben/Lindsay if it fits their narrative. Oh well … Internet lynch mobs, whipping themselves up into a tizzy.
@JoJo Who is going to explain to them that it is all a waste of time and energy? Ben Affleck is not going to dump his girlfriend because a handful of looney tunes in the DM comments don’t like her. What exactly is the point of the tizzy? I can’t even imagine what their real lives must be like, friendless and empty and obsessing over Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s girlfriend, desperately trying to win the day in the comments sections of websites like it means something.
Like everyone who posts on FB, Twitter, IG and comment boards across the internet, they are just voicing their opinions. There is a lot of negative stuff directed at Ben and Lindsey, and often just Lindsey, and sometimes Jennifer, as well. I think it’s a sign of the social media times…everyone has a platform to tell how they feel.
Nothing different about what we are doing here, really.
@LTS – I don’t know. I think I’d have to disagree. Yes, people express negative opinions here at CB. There’s nothing wrong with negative opinions, but more often than not on this board, there’s some level of intelligence. There’s logic and critical thinking going on, even if the commenters aren’t fans of Ben, Jen or Lindsay.
DM commenters operate in an alternate universe – it’s a whole different level of crazy. The DM board is simply an echo chamber for over the top trolls and trash talk about Ben/Lindsay. It’s more than likely a few people with a lot of different usernames talking to each other. The random people who voice a rational/neutral opinion are accused of being Lindsay herself. It’s a little nuts, and I don’t see the same thing happen here.
@JoJo, agreed, on DM things get a little scary. It is, however, a sign of our times that everyone wants to have a voice now that they have a platform. With that comes the good and the bad. Without reason, logic and respect for fellow human and their right to a different viewpoint, it can lead to really bad places, too. Sometimes, it becomes name calling between the two opposing opinions, rather than a real exchange of ideas and reasoning. My mind has been changed on a number of matters over the years through logical discourse. Even my youngest daughter gets caught up in the media madness sometimes – drives me nuts.
I wonder what Lindsay’s ex feels about Ben On and Off the Wagon Affleck playing step-parent to his kid?
He doesn’t need to be damned and shamed for life because he struggles with sobriety. People are going to make nasty comments about the way that he looks because they’re still mad that he left Garner but I think he looks clean and sober (and happy) in pics that I’ve seen of him for the last few months. If Jennifer Garner allows him to be around his own kids, why can’t he be around Lindsay’s?
You see healthy, others see not-so-healthy. Why does that mean that those who see not-so-healthy are mad about the breakup? Is he allowed around his own kids without supervision, though?
Ben himself has acknowledged his issues. He’s acknowledged multiple rehab stays in 2017.
I am divorced and co-parenting two children with an addict who is in recovery. He is welcome (and encouraged) to be present, and to have his children as often as possible. While I will always – always – be on the lookout for signs of relapse, I wish him every best and have every hope he stays clean for the rest of his life. I love him, he is not my husband, but he will always be family.
That said, should he have a serious (living together?) situation with anyone living through their own addiction struggles, I will be extremely uncomfortable, and much more reluctant to include this person into my children’s lives. The cycle is hard enough to endure when it’s a parent.
There is absolutely no evidence that Lindsay Shookus has addiction issues. None whatsoever. Anything else is fantasy by people determined to loathe her.
For all the more posters claim that they want him to be a better dad, they seem to take delight in pronouncing him bloated, fat, possibly drunk, etc. The fact is, they don’t really want him to get well and be happy. They want him to suffer and struggle and then crawl back to Garner and beg until she takes him back. Then Saint Jen can rebuild him and his life and everyone can feel better about liking him again. Any woman that Ben shows up with a threat to that dream. It’s sad, actually. The marriage was clearly toxic for both and I’m sure that Jen has had her moments of misery (or a year of wine), but she’s just better at hiding it all behind a facade. I agree w/ other posters in that clearly some people need to move on from the fantasy of Bennifer 2.0. It’s unhealthy at this point to be that obsessed.
LL, agreed.
Well, consider the people that are now (post her separation announcement) posting about a possible Aniston/Pitt reunion after all these years. Sometimes, people are like a dog with a bone and cannot let go. Can you imagine thinking a reunion would even be healthy for them after all that’s gone on since their divorce? Logical or reasonable? No.
Also, commenting on his appearance when it is not looking well isn’t wishing him ill, it’s just that–commenting on what his appearance says about his place with his current struggles (which he has openly talked about). You can wish for the best for someone, but also see when it isn’t going well for them.
I don’t care for him (for a number of his public behavior reasons), but I wouldn’t wish less than a healthy father for those kids.
Come on Ben, get it together!
I’ve always liked him.
Yeah it looks like, from pictures he is really in love with her 2) she enables his addition bad behavior. The pictures I see with him and JG he just looks so annoyed, but, when he is with Lindsey he flip flops and looks like a high school junior wIth his sophomore first girlfriend. I bet the same clothes thing is genuine , like they don’t do it on purpose, they just read each other perfectly. He is a very odd man , he is very smart, maybe too smart for his own good. Lindsey should never marry him it will doom their relationship.
Well I think he looks good — and happy. People get divorced and are allowed to move on. That is basically what I think the internet needs to do in regards to this story. Affleck and Garner split up 3 years ago FFS! Of course he is dating someone, he is not a monk or a celibate. Garner stans want him to pine over Jen for the rest of his life and are freaking out that it isn’t happening. This obsession that people have with agonizing over every detail of all of this is totally crazy, IMO. The comments sections of the Daily Mail posts are troubling: people clearly posting many times under different screen names, ranting and raving over how ugly LS supposedly is, now they’re pretending to be places with Ben and witnessing things… to what end? Ben is NOT going back to Jen. Time to let it go.
OMG, agreed. I don’t even read the DM comments anymore because it is like 10 lunatics posting under a dozen accounts, fighting with each other and accusing other posters of really being Lindsay Shookus and Ben Affleck. Troubling, indeed. I have concluded that unless Ben goes back to Garner, there are going to be people who insist that he looks terrible, is constantly drunk and ruining his life. Like… he is not going back to her ever and compared to how he looked a year ago, he has really cleaned up a lot.
Time to move on, people…
Agreed, they SHOULD NOT get back together. That was toxic environment for sure.
As to how he looks compared to a year ago? He’s been in rehab several times this year. He doesn’t look better than a year ago. He doesn’t look bad in these photos, but the past few weeks he has looked pretty ragged.
A year ago he was leaving rehab to see his brother win an Oscar, busting out of his suit and looking like hell. He is definitely starting to look like his old self again. I think that bothers people that he seems to be getting better. They want him to suffer permanently and that’s a really messed up way to think about someone you don’t know.
Acknowledging that he clearly shows the signs of this unfortunate (and I mean that) activities does not equate to wanting to see him suffer. Having people surrounding him who don’t tell him the truth and pretend all is well will likely eventually kill him. That would be very sad – his kids need a healthy dad.
Who are these people surrounding him who don’t tell him the truth and pretend that all is well?
The people who post on Daily Fail are certifiable. I’m sure that some of them post over here, too.
Yeah, I agree, and it is crazy. It’s pretty sexist too, because she’s not cookie cutter. If he had landed with that nanny, people wouldn’t be so harsh. THAT’s expected of a man. It’s really disturbing.
I am not comfortable with people trashing Lindsay at all. They obviously love being together, and she’s an accomplished woman in her career. It is mean.
The Daily Mail is a site I avoid even for photographs unless forced. They cover the most obnoxious celebrities who are apparently paying for the coverage. Several days ago my brain couldn’t take the thirsty D list parade and haven’t even looked since. The comment section is full of plants and nutters.
Daily mail is a scary place and I feel weird just glancing at the comment section of what is obviously at least a few people seriously needing a minimum of a 72 hour evaluation period and med adjustment.
Ben (and probably LS) have been in South Africa for the last week or so. I do think that eventually he’ll just basically move to NYC and return to LA for his kids’ events and possibly every other weekend. Let’s be real here, that’s all the parenting that he really wants to do. He isn’t interested in doing the daily grind of raising kids.
I don’t believe that the guy with Garner is anyone special. And anyway, she won’t go public with anyone until she finds someone who in her opinion is better than Affleck and being real again, she probably still thinks that the sun shines out his ass so it will never happen. She’s going to be Saint Martyr Jen Who Does It All For Her Kids until she can’t use that angle for press anymore bc they’re too old.
I mean, he is spending money like he is not going through a divorce. I hope Jen locks down strong trust funds for the kids before he blows through it all.
Also, why is it every photo of Ben and Lindsey looks like they are seeing light for the first time after a week long bender. I mean, the paps photos are going to sell so get it together you two.
Buying real estate isn’t blowing money. It’s investing money.
It’s a little weird to me that people would really believe that this was a staged pap stroll. X17 sits outside his house. That’s how they got the first pic of LS in his garage (that they strangely didn’t publish for months). One of their photogs is probably the source for the balloon delivery. Based on the high number of comments that Ben/LS stories get here and on Daily Mail, do you really think that paps have to be called? They get a lot of money for $$ so the paps will be there.
“They strangely didn’t publish it for months”
And that doesn’t clue you into the fact that this is all staged?
X17 is a VERY pro-Jen Garner website. If they held back on those photos it was not to protect Ben in any way.
I thought we had put the paps chase down celebs stories to rest ages ago. They don’t hang out in throngs unless something big is happening because the paydays aren’t what they used to be. Sure they camp but these two call the paps all the time I just don’t see how their photos grab big money anymore. Enough to waste weeks to catch a glimpse?
In the beginning, they were, but I don’t buy it now.
I’m confused as to how this “pap stroll” could be compared to Ben’s JLo days. I don’t see any comparison. This pap stroll, if it actually is one, is no different than the routine pap strolls we saw for a decade with him and Jen. No bling. No cars. No suits. No MTV music videos. Just your standard pap stroll.
He looks like a hot mess. Why would she want to waste her time with him?
Also, balloons?!? That’s what we used to do for our BFFs in HS. Come on Ben! You can do better.
Yes, but so easy for the paps to catch being delivered.
I got a balloon for my bf for Valentine’s Day. Every guy at his work brought it up and were jealous lol. Guys like balloons!
IMO the more hits Shookus takes, the more defiant Ben becomes about dating her. So all of the dramatic tizzies over her continued presence in his life just pushes him further in her direction. It’s gotta burn all of these crazy obsessed people that he refuses to dump her regardless of how often they call her an ugly she-male and try to blame her for all of Ben’s lifelong problems. I’m guessing that’s why they freak out so much.
He’s my birthday twin but he’s a few years older. He looked so good up until maybe 3 years ago. His face was really chiseled, now he’s a bloated mess.
Ben is just beaming at the paps. It actually is a little over the top. I think he likes to play it up for the paps as long as his children are not around. For someone who claims to value his privacy, this mansion is not very private, compared to his former mansion. I would be shocked if he bought this mansion. Time will tell….
Why can’t he smile and look happy? If he looked miserable, there would be 100 comments about how he hasn’t looked happy since he left Jen, blah blah. Jen herself is often photographed beaming. Are you going to analyze and criticize that too? Maybe these people don’t care what anyone thinks and aren’t doing it to impress you.
Why did we have to know that “a very large assortment of Valentine’s balloons was delivered” None of us would have ever known…there were no pics of balloons
Someone wanted us to know That! And they “were delivered as they were arriving ” i wonder who and why?
Truly, the curated balloons is the most hilarious thing I’ve heard in months. You can’t dress up a balloon or make it romantic. Haha…. balloons!