I guess we have our answer as to which outlets Ben Affleck uses and which outlets his estranged wife, Jennifer Garner, takes advantage of. (It’s also possible that the whole narrative has gotten away from them at this point.) Just last week, US Magazine ran a cover story claiming that Ben and Jen were on a “Secret Bahamas Reunion” and heavily suggesting, on the cover at least, that a reconciliation was possible. Then the two of them were seen at a Fourth of July event with their kids, chatting and looking very cozy.
I had the chance to read the full story in US and while clear that they’re not together again, US does make it sound like Ben has very much gotten in line. Ben has moved to a rental mansion down the street but comes back to take the girls to school and spend time with his youngest child, Sam. They also have “family dinners at night” and the source tells US Magazine that Ben wanted to reunite with Jen after he got sober. “He wanted to change and show her he is committed to giving her what she wants.” However “they’re not a couple by any means” and are “working on their relationship” for the sake of their family, not for romance.
US’s story is pretty much what we’ve heard to date, and it sounds like it’s from Garner’s side. As I’ve mentioned, US often has stories from her perspective. Only now comes E! with exclusive paparazzi photos of Ben out with a woman they claim he’s dating, an SNL producer named Lindsay Shookus. You can see the photos on E!’s site. Here’s the story, with more on E!
The Oscar-winning actor is dating Lindsay Shookus, a producer at Saturday Night Live.
A source tells us that the two are still very much “in the early stages” of their relationship and recently met up while he was in London for work. We’re told that the duo caught a showing of Sam Mendes’ play Ferryman last week during their trip abroad.
“It’s more than a summer fling,” the insider shared. “They are having fun and care for each other. It’s early and they are taking it slow.”
And while the new couple has done their best to keep things under wraps in the beginning stages of their romance, the two stepped out on the town in Los Angeles Thursday night for a quick date night.
Both Affleck and Shookus have yet to confirm their relationship.
She looks like Ben a little, like they have the same facial features, that’s something I notice with a lot of couples. She’s probably smart and funny as hell if she works at SNL, they likely have the same political views and a lot to discuss. I googled her and she’s an Emmy winner and has also been a producer on 30 Rock. She has a lockdown on her social media, if she even uses it, so I couldn’t find much else about her, except that she’s from outside Buffalo, NY, where I went to school. So I have decided I like her. I also like that he’s picked someone who is age appropriate with a good career, which is surprising. This is Affleck though, he’ll f-k this up soon enough. (Update: Jezebel has her wedding announcement from 2010, I assume she’s divorced now, along with the news that she’s 37 and has been named one of the most powerful women executives by Billboard.)
Also, how awesome would it be to see Jennifer Garner step out with a new man? I would eat that sh-t up.
The picture of Shookus on E!’s Instagram, below, is ten years old. Here’s a link to the original on Getty.
Photos credit: PRphotos, Getty, WENN, Backgrid
too bad the name puff daddy is taken, he looks like he is retaining a whole swimming pool in his face
What is going on with him? He looks really really unhealthy. That can’t just be weight gain, it looks like alcohol bloat, but he has stopped drinking long enough that that should have gone away. And it’s not just aging either, he’s only in his 40’s.
I think it’s a bad reaction to Botox. He’s gone through this cycle before — puffy looking, then overly photoshopped, and back again. Botox is a derivative of a neurological virus called botulism so he might be more sensitive to its harmful side effects.
No way it’s not a bad reaction to Botox. I’m 51 I get Botox every 3 months. I have for 5 years. His bloat looks more like a liver or kidney issue. Honestly I don’t think Botox could mess you up like that.
Yeah, he looks bad. I haven’t had a reaction like that to Botox. I think he’s a bad eater and now that he’s single, just eats whatever.
Can whatever it is he has done be reversed? LIke if it’s steroids or botox, if he stops doing it, will he go back to looking normal???
@ Lisa I just spat water out my nose. “Retaining a whole swimming pool in his face”… 😛
Plastic surgery on his eyes. He has the Kenny Loggins After Surgery look, plus other procedures that make him look just plain weird. Unattractive lout.
If you are trying to gain muscle mass, which he is, for Batman, you end up looking like a whale except for the few weeks you dont. Maintaining that level of mass all year round needs food.
Look at him in workout mode.
http://www.borntoworkout.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Ben-Affleck-Muscle.jpg
Yea ben looks BEAT. Wouldn’t touch that with a pole.
Apparently, the new GF will. According to the Daily Fail and People, she’s moved in with him already (in L.A):
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4679612/Ben-Affleck-new-beau-Lindsay-Shookus-shack-up.html
the daily fail keeps trying to say that Ben’s house is (dramatically) right down the street from the family home. X17, who actually stalk these people, says that it’s 2 miles away. And the pics of the home that x17 has of ben’s home, and the pics that the DF have, it doesn’t even look like the same house.
He’s just a big old mess.
I always felt that his buffing up for Batman did something to him. Ben looks so much better lean. The same with Henry Cavill. He and Jennifer are over so he can date all he wants. I do appreciate that they spend time together with their children. That is putting your kids first. It matters. So good for them both on that score.
I’m happy for him. It’s really time. Although I must admit, I’ll be interested to see how Jen handles this. I really hope, for this new woman’s sake, that she doesn’t become some kind of pawn in their dysfunctional relationship.
As for him dating someone age appropriate, I don’t see that as surprising at all. Yeah, some of his rep is for hooking up with young bimbos, but all of his longer term relationships have been with successful, age-appropriate women (Goop, JLo, JG, etc.)
I agree. It’s one thing about Ben I kind of admire: that he longterm dates women close to his age.
The new girlfriend looks fresh faced just like his ex. Ben looks fine. People look for something to make negative comments about and thinking he looks bad is a big fail.
I guess I’m the only one who doesnt think its time for him to date? If he just finished rehab a couple of months ago, dont they advice against getting into a relationship under a year of sobriety? He needs to get himself on an even emotional keel first. The first few months of sobriety are a rollercoster, making amends and creating new coping strategies. Also, its easy to plug the gap left by the addiction with a partner and that doesnt end well. I’m flashing my Too Soon Card on this story.
Ramona, you’re not alone. I said the same thing. It’s too soon for anything legitimate. Apparently he has known her for years as “friends” and some outlets are hinting that she has been one of the ladies he had on the side – seems like a friends with benefits situation – so she’s familiar, they share a “connection” (gotta love the messaging) and a comfortable way to help his PR by getting the public used to seeing him with other women who are not Jen. This new woman looks good on paper and is a good first woman to step out with, but I smell something funky by reading between the lines, if everything I’m seeing so far is correct. I agree that it is just way too soon for him to make any long-term commitments before he’s achieved one year of sobriety. I want to see what he’s into one year from now.
Agree Ramona and Grapefruit. I don’t think it’s too early in the sense of his relationship with Jen ending, but I think it’s way too soon re: his sobriety
I’d normally agree, but Ben is one of those too smart for his own good types, where being alone in his head may not be the best thing for him. What’s that saying about idle hands? I think having some companionship may help him quiet all the stuff going on in his head. That’s assuming this is casual dating. Obviously he doesn’t need to be getting into anything too serious so soon after rehab.
Don’t you come into every Affleck and Garner thread like some broken record and claim that they are back together? I guess you can’t be in denial if there are pics.
Yeah, he was never going to step out with some girl in her 20s. Quietly? On the side? I’m sure there have been many, but he wants someone formidable on his arm.
He had affairs with Blake LIvely and his nanny, they were both about 15 yrs younger
Yay – Buffalo represent on Celebitchy! While I’m inclined to like the choice anyway since she’s from Buffalo (where I grew up and LOVE), I do like that she has an established career and didn’t, like, just turn 21
Yay another Buffalo native here!
Totally! I’m an upstate NYer myself so kudos to him on that and the fact that she’s the right age and has a solid career. She has a manly look to her face, but that seems to be his type. I will say I think any relationship that’s more than a summer romance or fling is NOT good and just a distraction from his sobriety. If I’ve learned anything from friends who have gone through AA it’s to avoid any long-term, serious commitments – relationships or otherwise – until at least one full year of sobriety – and I doubt he’s hit that mark. Curious as to her story and how they met.
Is it true things are cheaper in Buffalo? My SIL told me to visit and see for myself.
Definitely. While the housing market has gone up in price over the past few years it’s still significantly cheaper than elsewhere. I’m also consistently shocked at the food and drink bill when I go home (and I don’t even currently live in a major U.S. city like NY or San Francisco where you would expect things to be more expensive). Finally, Wegmans.
Thanks. I will make sure I visit soon.
It’s cheaper than Rochester, though they’re reasonably similar. I miss the Alberta Drive Wegmans so much.
Good for him for his new dating interest. It’s not a 20 year old wearing super bowl rings on a private flight or a nanny
Tom Brady and Ben Affleck on a private flight with Affleck’s nanny wearing the superbowl rings. Theory is that both of them got some from the nanny. Reality is that Gisele roped Tom and got him to commit to their marriage. Affleck was more difficult to pin down = not possible to rope him in.
My theory has always been that Tom Brady was the one who was boinking the nanny…..
Ridiculous “theory”… Reality? This is not reality, I can’t believe you want to believe this theory.
Affleck has always picked famous mature career-driven woman to my knowledge. And he has a type as this one is a more masculine Garner (I find her to be beautiful btw).
His official partner choice was never the problem though. The problem is his vices: drugs and alcohol, the gambling and of course the cheating. Per Goop: “He’d be better off dating a Scores stripper”. I know he’s “successful” but he’s also incredible self-destructive and insecure and can’t handle a normal relationship. He brought no value to the 3 famous women he previously dated. They all bigged him up. Ben Affleck cannot be saved, he’s getting worse with age actually!
Why this man tries to be in monogamous relationships, I don’t know and why any women would want to touch that without being paid good, I don’t know either. If Affleck didn’t learn from his mistakes (LOL), he will embarrass Shookus just like he did with his other partners.
Way harsh. To me he’s always seemed miserable and completely owned by his vices, not made happy or satisfied by them. I think Ben is a troubled guy, and trying to make it work with Jen for all those years was in his mind his best chance. In the end Jen couldn’t put up with the humiliation and ended it. If nanny didn’t share that pic, I think they’d still be together. Jen was both his wife and his sponsor, and was keeping him afloat. Being an alcoholic and gambling addict rarely ends well. Ben has a lifetime of struggle ahead of him.
Jen enabled him. She wasn’t his sponsor. She has codependency issues and would lie and cover up for him. Pretending that your drunk husband isn’t cheating on you just to keep up appearances is not actually healthy behavior.
What was harsh exactly, you’re almost saying the same thing as I did?
I don’t think Affleck tried, trying is not banging the nanny. That’s double betrayal as that woman was close to their children and his wife for pete’s sake. At least he cheated in the past with strippers. Like I said, he’s getting worse.
I am not sure that Garner was the ideal wife for him. Matt Damon didn’t like her much. Sure she seemed to have brought some stability to his life. Baby to safe the parents’ marriage? Likely. But then he seemed to rebel / fall back into his old ways which suggests that his issues weren’t addressed properly. Not that it is your spouse’s duty to act as your therapist. It just didn’t work in the end.
Um, there should beonly 2 people in that marriage: the husband and the wife. If they were happy getting engaged and then married, I don’t see why a best friend’s opinion should have any value? Matt isn’t a saint and is a bro deep down (just like Affleck). He’s got awful opinions about diversity, gay actors and made some comments about Afflecks relationship with Jlo and seems like a douche in general. And I’m very confused as to why Damon, another man, should be deciding how good of a wife a woman he wasn’t even dating is?
Affleck and Garner had multiple children, but I suppose only Garner is responsible for that choice right?
Affleck had all the support he needed, Garner was basically ride or die but he hasn’t got it in him to do the rest of the work so what’s the point even with all that support? I remember after his rehab he was doing some film promo and was pictured in a casino with Ezra Miller and the excuses fans gave was ridic. He’s all too willing to return what he likes best, he doesn’t even have to be pushed, a slight nudge and he’s off in the deep end.
Yeah, he’s fat. The woman looks too good for him, on all levels. Why in the world can’t he help Jennifer to let go and move on with her life? He must be leading her on in some way. Yes, they have three children together, but maybe couples therapy? He has so clearly let go and she has so clearly not. It would be a compassionate act on that cad’s part and help his publicity. I just can’t with him.
Well Jen must know now he has moved on. Im surprised the new woman isnt as stereotypically Hollywood beautiful but Ben is not a catch himself. Other photos online of her show her to be low key pretty and in shape like Jen Garner. This is a fug outfit she is wearing and unflattering photo angle for her i think!
This makes me think the Rumor he was on vacation with Jen is false. My guess is this woman was the nail in the coffin and prompted Jen to finalize the divorce this year.
I highly doubt this romance brewed over night and there was probably some overlap with the separation. Jen is obviously still hung up on him and rather pathetic if she did in fact let him vacation with her ( girl get your groove back and get your own man as ben is no longer “yours”) but at least she filed and finalized the divorce. Maybe Ben pressured her to get it done because he met this woman.
I too doubt that Jen has moved on. She always seemed to hope and hang in that Ben would get his act cleaned up. And Ben seemed to lead her on.
Did she gain some weight? Comfort food? She is in no way fat but very beautiful.
Everything I’VE seen points to the fact that she HAS moved on. Just because she hasn’t been seen dating someone too doesn’t mean she hasn’t moved on. And just because she lets him come to family outings with her and the children (who she obviously has primary custody of) doesn’t mean she wants him in her life, but it does mean she wants him to be in the children’s life still, which is what she’s always said publicly. And I wouldn’t say she’s necessarily divorced. JLo was married and so was Jen when he wooed them during Gigli and Daredevil. I think he likes the challenge of taking wives away. That said, I think he has a type definitely since she looks like a cross between Jen and GOOP. Kinda like his mother, actually.
Does she really have primary custody?
My impression is that Ben works a lot more than she does and therefore the kids stay with her? It kind of makes sense if you consider that Ben is likely the one providing financially. So her taking the kids more often might be good for the family income. And her career has slowed a bit as Hollywood considers any woman over 30 as “too old”.
He’s not fat. Russell Crowe, on the other hand, is fat.
What does Crowe have to do with it? But as you brought up the comparison – Crowe looks like he just enjoys eating while Ben looks like is into drink and drugs.
I think she has moved on and I believe this is all for their children. When my cousin divorced her alcoholic husband, she did the same. They had been together since high school, had three kids and everyone thought they had the perfect marriage. We were shocked to find out she’d been to Al-anon for a long time trying to keep their marriage together.
After they divorced, he still came to all family functions, Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, etc. When I asked her why she just said, “I do it for my kids.” All three are now grown, well adjusted and thriving. Her ex-husband died from his alcoholism 4 years ago.
Am I the only one that thinks she’s a blonde Jen? Like what Violet will look like when she’s older. Weird
No, I thought that too! Happy for Ben if he’s happy, but will be surprised if he is happy, because Ben does not seem to ever be happy JMO. He is one troubled man, and subject to the ‘wherever you go, there you are’ rule of life.
You take your issues with you. I believe we call it ‘baggage’. Yeah, safe to say Ben’s shlepping a luggage store 😉
I wish him luck with his many addictions.
Thought the exact same.
Precisely. Me too. Jen in blond.
I noticed that too!
She very much looks like Jen!
She looks more than a bit like Jen, to me. Her style, body type, general aura.
She must be recently divorced, she was married in 2010 to another tv producer who recently worked on Seth Meyer’s show, Kevin Miller. Their NYT wedding announcement shows she’s now 36 years old. At least she’s age appropriate and works in the biz.
Shes a decade younger..so Im not going to congratulate him
I’m sad for Ben. Bottom line, he’s never looked happy. Props to Jen for being strong enough to walk away.
She reminds me of a few people – Amy Smart, Frances McDormand and Jen’s BFF/manager Nicole King.
Holy Botox, Batman!
I could swear we’ve seem at least one pic of them together before–and that was much closer to the time of the Jen/Ben breakup. At that time she wasn’t identified and was assumed to be a professional contact like one of his managers. Does anyone else recall that?
She seems vaguely familiar to me too. CB sleuths need to get on it! 🙂 If it’s out there it will be unearthed.
I remember those pictures. They were calling her his sober coach last year.
Apparently, they have known each other for years and have been F buddies on and off since before he married Jen. That’s what X17 says (found it on Twitter), but I’m not sure how reliable they are with their facts. They photographed her going into an Uber leaving his new bachelor pad last month. It seems she might be just like him in that neither one can keep up a legit relationship. Also, the same article says that she and her ex may not be legally divorced and have one kid together. Oy vey. We’ll see if it’s factual or not though!
Funny how x17 never bothered to post that pic of her coming out of his house when they got it.
I think you mean this one:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4093858/Ben-Affleck-enjoys-lunch-date-blonde-mystery-woman-holds-arm-Beverly-Hills.html?ito=social-twitter_DailyMailCeleb
and I don’t think it’s the same woman.
@nat the woman in your link is a different woman, she was id’d as a professional sober nurse companion that Ben had apparently hired at the time.
Wow – X17 does have the scoop and is putting it right out there. They claim Ben dated Lindsay even before he hooked up with Garner, and was seeing her straight thru the marriage, making frequent trips to NYC to “hook up”. They’ve always had a ‘strong connection’ putting her above his many other flings. Wowza if true. I suspect we’ll be hearing more about all this in the coming weeks.
@TheOtherSam that’s what I found!! This is about to get REAL interesting and not really beneficial to him as far as his PR issues are concerned. I think that if X17’s facts are true – which they have some receipts so I’m inclined to believe it – then she’s a familiar way to step out with someone “new” even though she’s not new to him. Refinery29 said they’ve been “friends for years” which knowing what X17 has translates to “F buddies” throughout BOTH their marriages. Apparently, Ben went to NYC a lot (remember when we were all wondering who that mystery woman was?!) to see Lindsay over the years and Jen never understood what was going on, but allegedly “suspected something.” I see what his PR team is trying to do because she looks good on paper, BUT people are smarter than they think and this years-long fling/affair/whatever they’ve had going is already coming out. Plus, and more importantly, he isn’t even one year sober. This is too soon for him. I’m sure this is just more fun for him and a distraction from his sobriety but that’s precisely the problem. What a hot mess all around for all involved.
Not surprised. Let’s hope these cheaters took precautions because I think they probably messed around with many people… it is Hollywood after all but to come home to your family after that and lie and sleep with their partners…wow.
Seriously they sound so messy and unhealthy, this is not good for Affleck’s recovery and girlfriend deserves whatever mess is going to happen next tbh. All these years Garner trying to hold on to that skeevy little sod, I hope life is better for her now. And now this new couple can pretend they’re into monogamous legit relationships before they get incredible bored by each other and create an even bigger mess with whomever they cheat with next. It’s the circle of messy lives!
Well, Jen said that her eyes were “wide open” during the marriage. The whole world knows that Ben cheated on Jennifer Lopez with strippers. Garner still married him. She stayed married to him and continued to have many kids with him despite his cheating. I feel no pity for her. She always knew who and what he was.
Yes, I remember that!
He’s free to date whomever he wants and I hope Garner starts dating too. Agree with the age appropriate comments.
I saw the pics.. she is very pretty and they look good together. Life is short. Everyone has a right to be happy
She looks like adult version of his oldest daughter.
She looks a bit like Jennifer Garner except for the brunette hair and the fillers and the nose job which changed Garners apperance. But otherwise: slim sporty but curvy figure. Heart-shaped face with a defined jaw. Beautiful in a pretty-sweet fun way.
Nat – you’re right! That’s the one I had in mind! Too bad…thought I had dug up some dirt! 😉
I don’t think she is pretty. She is average. The one pic DM has of her in a black gown was taken in 2006. (She looks cute there.) The latest pic E has of their date night, she looks a lot older.(Jen looks like her age). One of the articles I read said she was married and has a child.(I wonder how old?)
I do feel bad for her…she has huge shoes to fill. Jennifer Garner is a fan favorite!!!
On the upside, she is not a 20 something model and she seems intelligent with all of her achievements
Wow, that x17 story is … interesting, if it’s true. Remember when Ben was spotted in NY back in April and everyone was saying he was back with the nanny? He must have been with Lindsay then. He left for NY right after that “cozied up” picture of him and Jen coming out of church and didn’t spend school break week at home. And he and Jen filed almost immediately after that. Makes it clear how much Jen and he really played it up for the cameras – he was already with Lindsay when that church photo was taken. Did Jen have no clue and then filed when she found out? Or did she already know and was just playing with the paps?
@JoJo – EXACTLY what I’m wondering. Of course, they were playing it up for the cameras because both Ben and Jen are image-obsessed for their own separate career-focused reasons, but Jen is no dummy. I’m sure she feels taken advantage of by waiting to file until he was done with his rehab but then I think that once she realized WHO he was seeing in NY and for how long it was going on (perhaps she knew that already) then she was finally done with playing nice and filed. She’ll humor him in public for the cameras, but in private I would imagine she would be really cold and distant, totally over this nonsense. If he’s really been with this woman throughout the duration of his marriage to Jen (and this Lindsay seems to have also done the same to her husband with Ben so she’s no better) then I’m sure Jen made things known privately like some of the stuff we’ve heard, e.g. the move, the new dojo, barely speaking at school functions, staying in separate hotels/houses in the Bahamas, etc.
Oh yeah. This X17 story is spreading…slowly. People is now saying they’ve “known each other for years” and used one of X17’s photos of her at his place! They’re totally fact checking the rest now. People also said that she’s staying at his house in LA and was photographed leaving there this morning. LOL at the initial “they’re taking it slow.” Pfffft this is so going to fizzle and burn fast. So they’re hiding out together while this thing unravels. Apparently, they had a quick dinner last night and arrived in a limo (totally his team doing this) and returned to his house “quickly” so either they did not mean to be pap’d or meant to do it fast and then dump it on a Friday morning. It seems to me that his camp is putting this story out slowly trying to control it by being “sources,” but neither rep has actually commented yet. What a dumpster fire. >grabs popcorn<
Didn’t Lainey have a bit of blind gossip about him having a fight with a blonde woman in a car as well?? It was assumed to be Sienna Miller but maybe it was her as well?
What a difference a couple of days makes. In that post with the July 4th pics, everyone was so lovey-dovey over Ben and how great it would be if they got back together. All flowers and hearts. Now that he’s with someone else? He’s a fat, bloated, ugly pig. And if that X17 article is true, and Ben and this woman have been dating the entire time that he was married to Jen, then Jen is an even bigger doormat than I ever even suspected. Their entire marriage was a total sham for the cameras.
She looks like she could be Brooklyn Decker’s older sister. Color me surprised he’s dating someone age appropriate and stable. Not surprised she’s blonde with big tatas though!
I don’t think she looks like Jen at all. WTF? Maybe Heather Morris. She must be important to him. I’m just happy that FINALLY the tabloids will stop with this bs about Ben and Garner getting back together. It ain’t happening.
Ben looks like Jon Favreau
There’s something very attractive about this new woman. I don’t know what it is about her, but her look is unique and her smile seems so genuine. I googled photos of her out of curiousity and she is just stunning to me.
This is probably the same blonde woman in Florida. Remember the story that came in while Jen and kids were in Europe with him? He went to Florida for the weekend and he took Uber with her and the Uber driver went to local press that the two were arguing. Ben’s people killed that story asap.
On another note, Matt Damon should not be a factor to Ben’s marriage. Matt doesn’t like Jen because his wife is a meanie to JG. Her and Emily Blunt are bullies. The new GF of Ben will probably get along with them. She seems like a party animal and from NY.
there were pics of ben, jen and the kids in london during the time he was allegedly ubering with the blonde, i think. so false sighting?
I thought Jennifer Garner seemed almost OTT happy at their 4th of July family outing. Now I think she knew this news would break (timed for weekend natch), and wanted to convey she was FINE dammit FINE!
I thought that the pics of her with the kids at the race looked almost posed. Very fake.
X17 has had the pics of the new gf for a long time now. Why did they sit on them? Very curious. They will post aerial photos of the property and make all kinds of ridiculous claims, but a blonde woman leaving Ben’s house in the AM isn’t worthy of a post?
Yeah, and another outlet (US, I think?) now has pics from London last week, and says they were first spotted on a date in London on 6/29. It’s very clear now that a few outlets had the scoop on this before now. Why didn’t they run them when they had them like you said? I’m guessing they went to the reps for comment, and the reps asked them to hold off until a certain date (maybe after the July 4 event)? What other reason could there be? Clearly they had some control – or at least tried to exert some – over when this was going to break. Maybe one of them (Ben or Jen) said they would provide some “exclusive” comment at a later time if they held off until now?
I could understand why US weekly sat on the pics. Their cover story on them read like fanfic. Ben was “working hard to show Jen he cared” and all that bull. They look completely stupid now. Enews seems to only have the pics from last night so perhaps they didn’t know about London. X17 is the one that is weird. They will post all about the Bahamas trip but won’t even mention that they saw a woman leaving his house after they hooked up? Or that Ben & Lindsay have been seeing each other for years? But then, I sometimes get the feeling that the site is run by pathetic Bennifer shippers. So their denial could be the reason they sat on them. Who knows. I don’t think it has anything to do with getting an exclusive or anything. Ben is out and about with the new gf. He doesn’t care who sees or knows.
US weekly has been dangling the they-might-reconcile angle since the new owners took over. Then they try to cover all bases by saying that it’s just for the family’s sake, etc. If they had gf pics a week ago but didn’t post them and got outscooped by enews — morons. x17 has no reason not to post the pic of Lindsay leaving his house. A-listers aren’t talking to them for any reason, and that is juicy gossip. Makes no sense unless, as O says, the site is hoping against all hopes that Bennifer will reunite. lol
@jojo More like, it was beneficial for the tabloids to run the cutesy family photo spread from the Bahamas… and the fourth of july… instead of Ben out to dinner with his new girlfriend. I bet they got a bunch of clicks from all that. They milk every story they can for as many clicks as they can. And I don’t believe that it’s not at least semi-serious at this point, however long they’ve really been together. Who even recognized her? Did they pass her photo around the office and try to identify her? Ben’s pr probably gave them her name. They’re a public relationship now, officially.
Well … just bizarre. What kind of outlet holds off on a major scoop like that simply because they personally want to push a certain narrative? Wouldn’t that kind of scoop drive way more clicks than another “are they reconciling” story?
I’m going to guess at the next round of headlines/clickbait over the next few months:
-Heartbroken Jen Says No Other Woman Will Raise Her Kids – Tells Ben She Wants Sole Custody!
-Lindsay and Ben Go Up in Flames as He Makes Last-Ditch Desperate Plea to Get Jen Back
Sorry, I’m in PR, so I couldn’t help it! 🙂 To be clear, I’ve always thought Ben/Jen were a bad mix and completely co-dependent. I’m just saying I don’t see the Ben/Jen media narrative going away anytime soon. Now the tabs just have a whole new angle to invent stories around.
Also, I really wouldn’t doubt it if Jen played it up for the cameras on July 4 to p*ss off Lindsay. She knew what all of the stories would say the next day. I’m not convinced she’s “over it”, but who knows.
Jen’s camp is coming out swinging now. Us just posted a story about how long Ben and Shookus have been seeing each other and the headline says it was during his time with Jen. Apparently, they started the affair in 2015 and were not casually dating, but “having a full-blown affair. They were sleeping together, sending each other cute texts and meeting up whenever they could.”
Then another Garner source (or the same one) says “Garner and Shookus’ ex-husband, Kevin Miller, both discovered the relationship in 2015, the Garner source claims: “They were devastated when they found out about the affair.” But then Us credits an Affleck source who explains that oh, it’s not SO bad, they’ve only been seeing each other for three months.
What a cluster. As a PR person, Ben sounds like a total nightmare client to me, the one who calls you at 2 a.m. with some fire to put out. There’s the he-said, she-said and somewhere in the middle, between the lines, is the truth. I wonder what TMZ is up to because they said months ago that he’s been dating before any of this came out.
Well if Jen’s trying to shame Ben into coming back to her, it’s not going to work. He’s the type who would defend his girlfriend’s tarnished honor and this will probably drive him even deeper in Lindsay’s direction. “Lindsay was not what led to the end of their marriage. They had a ton of other problems,” the insider claims. “Ben is enjoying Lindsay’s company, and they will continue to see each other.”
@ok I think Jen isn’t doing it to shame Ben so much as she is to intimidate Shookus. this woman was built for behind the camera; not living life in front of it. Jen is a pro at this game. I think Jen wants to intimidate her into submission and make this coming out harder for both Shookus and Ben. while we’re all wondering why outlets sat on this story, I’m sure Affleck’s camp is thinking they’ll control the narrative (haha good luck with that now) and Garner’s camp has held onto a lot of intel until today. I wonder how long this will continue to last now that they’re no longer sneaking around and are in the spotlight. she sure left for NYC as quickly as possible, lol.
I doubt that will work either. LS has hung around for ages, years if the tabloids are to be believed. She let him slip through her fingers before, I doubt she’ll let that happen again. She probably thinks that Jen is an evil bitch who trapped Ben into marriage and then nagged him to death. I don’t think this one is going anywhere.
Maybe. I can see this chic being a real clinger, just like Jen. She’s held on for this long, since 2013, according to People. But it’s been comfortable for them both being out of the public eye and the press plus the safety of living on opposite coasts. Hiding out at the Mandarin Hotel. She was just someone he was seeing in NYC without a name. But now that Shookus is making headlines and being hit from all sides, this adds a new layer of stress and complexity to something that is “relatively new,” at least, the romance is new but definitely not the benefits. Plus, Ben is soooo self-destructive. From what I’ve read about her, I think Shookus is gross and they both deserve each other, frankly, but Ben loves himself more than anybody else and the one thing he LOVES to do is make himself a comeback story. So once this dies down and fizzles – or at least they tell the public that – the divorce is done, she’s back at SNL working and he’s filming and promoting more movies, then we’ll continue to hear how he’s working on himself, focusing on his kids and just casually dating. Toss in a single actress’ name to generate buzz and curiousity. This is in the rear view and the cycle continues.
I dunno, I think if I waited for a guy to leave his clinger wife and he finally did, especially if it’s zillionaire Batman Ben Affleck, I’m probably prepared for the attention. She’s not some no one from the streets. She’s in the biz. She knows how it works. And she has a home in LA although she’s apparently been staying with Ben as well.
Actually, these two have been together since 2014.
Damn that x17 report! Ben is an ass!
US mag has pics of Ben and Lindsay going to dinner from late June and July 1. Why did they wait a week to post them?
Us has the earliest pics I guess (from 6-29 in London) not counting the months-old stalker pic of her leaving Ben’s house that X17online was sitting on for some dumb reason. Maybe they were hoping to get a big cover out of this if no one else broke it first. Stupid move.
his team might have purchased the photos and held them under embargo. or else, like you said, they’re just stupid and hoping to recover from their wish for Jen and Ben to get back together. or maybe they wanted more of an exclusive and didn’t get it. that’s all I can think. I’m wondering how long it will last with this woman, who clearly has been around with him, but not publicly. she’s used to being behind the camera and now she’s in front of it and doesn’t look all that happy in any of the photos.
x17 obviously thought that this woman was important enough to the story to follow her to her own home in los angeles. That’s what’s insane to me. They said nothing until e news broke the story. I wonder how long they have really known about her.
Did the new lady go to the Bahamas with him, too? He did have his own house there. It seems like she has been traveling with him (London for filming, now LA). Shows how much of a lie the whole Ben and Jen charade has been! Jen is on another level of doormat if she stayed with Ben for all of those years while he had a girlfriend that he saw on the regular. Any sympathy that I might have had for her is gone. Pathetic.
Sadly, I feel the same. I hate the doormat comments, but how do you have 3 kids with a man with addiction issues and he’s been dating other women the entire duration of your marriage! WTF!. I was rooting for her.. Ben is still an ass though.
Yeah, I agree. Very Hollywood of them both. Also, who is this woman?! She’s fine with being a side piece for however long while also still being married herself?! I’m usually of the “to each their own” mentality but WTF!? And now she’s the public shiny thing to flaunt in front of the cameras? She’s got a solid career so I wonder what she gets out of this being in the biz. They all look terrible in this, IMO.
There seems to be some question about whether or not she is still legally married. Maybe tmz will come through with some details on his new woman.
Well, he’s still legally married so…
let’s see if I can articulate this the right way: I think this is PR damage control. Not as to say this a PR relationship, no. He totally could be actually dating this woman. But we all know that SHE IS SO NOT HIS TYPE: he likes the sexy type. And as he probably fits into the cliche of some men ” a (plain looking) saint at home, a sexy chick in the sheets, is also true that this woman is not a looker to say the least. So what’s going on? I think he’s covering up whatever relationship he was and probably still is having on the side. Someone famous, someone who didn’t wanted the spotlight on. And this SNL producer seems to fit perfectly what I can almost hear from his PR people and friends: Ben you should date someone innocuous, someone not famous but who understands showbiz, someone not stunning so no threatening to Jennifer, someone who lives on the opposite coast so you have an easy way out. someone serious, not looking for fame and who will make you look like a mature, changed man. Don’t forget that Justice League, The Batman and The accountant sequel are coming. You can still have the sexy chick(s) on the side. But for now, just play the game. Oh, yes, totally Ben’s game, he knows it too well.
x17 has pics of Lindsay at her home in L.A. so she doesn’t live on the other coast. And Ben has dated a wide variety of women. I’m not sure he has a type. Jennifer 1.0 and the nanny were the sexy type, Goop was the frigid, cool blonde, and Garner was the overgrown girl scout/stage 5 clinger. Maybe he is/was dating others, maybe not.
@Mannori good points. agree with some of what you’re saying about damage control and keeping his movies with WB in mind. Shookus looks really good on paper and she’s familiar because they’ve been hooking up on and off for years. he’s definitely very, very good at playing the Hollywood PR game (I work in PR so I’m eating this up lol)
@benson the pics of Shookus are at HIS house in LA. she is based in NYC.
No, x17 has pics of her at her house. “Thursday night, the pair was photographed leaving Santa Monica hotspot Giorgio Baldi but we were onto these two a month ago when we photographed Lindsay taking an Uber as she left Ben’s huge new bachelor pad manse one morning. Another day, we caught up with Lindsay as she left her own house, headed to Soul Cycle for a spin class. “
I totally buy into x17’s latest post (even though I know x17 is generally suspect.) I think he’s wanted out of that marriage for a very long time, but Jen made it hard for someone like him to leave because she’s a clinger and he’s a coward. Bad mix. The x17 story says Jen confronted Lindsay in NY and told her to back off because they were working on their marriage – if that’s true … wow. After 10+ years of the issues, topped off by the nanny, she was still out there clinging to the marriage and willing to ask a mistress to go away. Sorry, I know Affleck is completely full up on demons, but something in Jen is deeply broken too.
@JoJo THIS. So broken, the both of them. Also, who would want to date either one of them right now? They’re coming out of so much heavy, twisted stuff individually and as a divorced couple. Outside of a rebound, I am just not seeing the appeal?!
If the article on x17 is true, what kind of person would refuse to back away when the wife tells her that they want to work on their marriage? (And they have 3 kids!)
A while back there was a blind that said that Ben was seeing someone but told her he wouldn’t leave his wife. Everyone thought it was Jennifer Lopez.
Also there was a blind that said Ben was getting ready to leave Jen but then Jen became pregnant with Samuel. (Obviously Jen thought they were working on their marriage)
If this is true, all along it was Lindsay!
This sounds like a Princess Diana/Camilla Parker Bowles scenario!
They were laughing at all of us when tabloids were saying Ben was hooking up with Sienia Miller, Margot Robbie , etc.
In the pics of Lindsay at LAX, she looks like Jane Lynch! She also looks very uncomfortable with all the pap attention!
There was also that recent blind, “Four Conditions.” It said Ben wasn’t able to comply with Jen’s fourth condition for taking him back – not cheating. I always said that I didn’t think she’d file just because of addiction – it had to be yet another cheating incident, and that does seem to be the case now that we know about this.
All of that said, honestly, I do think Ben and Jen have been over for a very long time (but probably waffling a bit because of the kids). If this woman was simply a famewh*re, she could have come out of the woodwork a long time ago, but she didn’t. Maybe they actually like each other and get along well.
What Jen says and what Ben tells her himself were probably two different things. Garner only wants to stay in the marriage for publicity and control over him. That much is clear now.
I don’t remember a blind like that. Lainey has said that Jen has been telling Ben for years that she will never, ever leave him (stage 5 clinger), no matter what he does.
@Benson, I think Carol is referring to the Blind Item, “Celebrity Couple is Pregnant but Not Happy” from 2011.
Wow that x17 story! I sincerely hope it’s not true.
And this woman looks nothing like Jen, wtf.
From x17’s latest: Another source tells us Jen tried to get Ben to end things with Lindsay for the sake of their kids and keeping the family together, but he simply couldn’t.
“Ben has felt for a long time that Lindsay is his soulmate. He realized a couple years into his marriage with Jen that he had settled down with the wrong woman, so being with Lindsay has always been his plan. He didn’t want to hurt Jen, so it took him years to get out of that relationship. He couldn’t be happier to finally be able to go public with Lindsay.”
People just came out with more. This is like a fire and I can’t look away, lol. It looks like his team is feeding information to People to help soften the history he shares with Shookus. Per People, he last appeared on SNL in May 2013 then the next month, people spotted him and Shookus together at The Heat premiere afterparty in NYC with someone saying “he definitely looked interested in her.” Then they left the party together and went to the Mandarin Oriental hotel bar. SHADE!
Then, over the past few years, anytime he was on Fallon, he would go “visit” (hahaha) her at SNL and while they were both married at the time, there was “definitely a flirtation.” Ohhh, the shade. I bet there was “flirtation” and then some!
Then People says that this source, who “knows” both Ben and Shookus, says their romance is “relatively new” and “They’ve known each other for a long time. Marriages break up for a number of reasons.” Not the most convincing thing I’ve ever read.
Woof. I’ve been judging him and Jen for a long time and I’ve been a Ben supporter since his Chasing Amy days, but I just can’t anymore. And this Shookus woman. As a fellow woman and mother, how desperate is she maintain a relationship with him, despite Jen’s sad pleas (if X17 is accurate), and especially right now? The man hasn’t been sober for very long, if at all! He has ALL the baggage. Not a whole lot of self-love there. I don’t care who she is, where she works or what her career is. She has a family of her own, but where they at? Does she care?! Oy vey. Just gross. So very gross. I can see this crashing and burning quickly, especially given today’s public scrutiny and flurry of stories from so many outlets. She’s used to being comfortable behind the camera so I can’t imagine that this is all that fun for her being so very up close and personal. And it won’t let up for a long time now either.
I can buy that the romance is relatively new, but the banging each other has been going on for years….
This shookus woman is a trainwreck herself with her fake tan and leather skin. She seems to be Ben’s kind of woman. Party, party and drink, drink. They are both gross!
See, this is what happens when you decide to get married because someone gets pregnant. I’ve always said that he would not have ended up with Garner if she hadn’t gotten pregnant. They are way too different, she’s not his type and she always seemed WAY more into him than he was to her. They’ve been struggling along, adding more and more innocent kids to the mix, and for what? He never truly wanted to be there. He should have been honest with Jen and himself years ago. As for Jen, she needs to grow a damn spine already. She looks pathetic, clinging to him despite all of this cheating. FFS. She pines for him still, probably.
Agree, and really just as importantly, Jen should have looked in the mirror and been honest with herself. A man who’s never home and struggling with serial infidelity and other major addictions/issues throughout a majority of your marriage has told you all you need to know. No words are needed. As my Dad always told me, “Nevermind what they’re telling you, look at what they do.”
Ben still looks like biggest jerk in this mess. He’s proven himself time and time again to be a crappy father and husband.
JoJo and zara, I agree with both of you. She got pregnant, they decided to give it a go and it didn’t work. They just never seemed that compatible and they shouldn’t have kept on having kids. He obviously has addiction problems and is not stable husband material. I think she loved him, loved being Mrs. Ben Affleck and didn’t want to give that up. They have both used the media in this whole tedious split. Their split has dragged on forever, enough.
Wow US Weekly online has that they have been dating since 2015 and it was a so-called full blown affair that devastated their spouses and ended both of their marriages—per a source close to Jennifer Garner.
I believe that x17 is a pro-Jen site. They always make little comments about her. The more that comes out, the more I think it has been a power struggle behind the scenes. Jen has been pushing family friendly stuff in an attempt to keep him in the marriage and away from Lindsay, while also giving herself an out of “co-parenting” in case her plan didn’t work. I also think that it’s her doing that stuff about Lindsay has been suppressed until now. As long as no one knew about her, there was a chance that Ben would give her up and return to the marriage with no PR harm done. Now Ben is taking her to London and dinners out in LA and not hiding. He’s so totally done with jen and the marriage.
Where were all of these sources when they were reporting on family trips to the Bahamas, holiday trips in Montana, etc? It was all hunky dory until today, or so they’d have us believe. Now Ben’s allegedly had a secret girlfriend for the past two years? WTF?
The latest US story seems suspect. They’re saying Ben/Lindsay hooked up in 2015, leading to Ben/Jen’s split. Well, Ben and Jen officially split up in June 2015 and had apparently been separated for up to 10 months before that. So, are they now saying Ben was hooking up with both the nanny and Lindsay before Ben and Jen split? Not sure I believe that. Or is it that Lindsay is what led to their initial trial separation months before they officially split in June? (Garner was with him right before that in March in DC for his Congressional testimony, so once again, they were playing the family image game.) The nanny thing was inexcusable, but if he hooked up with Lindsay after he and Jen announced their split in 2015, then honestly, I don’t see what the problem is.
I don’t think there is a problem. Whatever the timeline is, Garner and Affleck should have divorced years ago. They dragged it out because I’m sure they wanted to give it a go for their kids. Didn’t work.
Unless Ben or Jen decide to be totally honest (yeah, right) and tell everyone everything re: a timeline I don’t think we’ll ever really know.
@JoJo People’s timeline goes back to 2013 with Shookus, which makes more sense to me and their “on and off again” hook up narrative that his camp is pushing. At this point, I really wouldn’t put it past him if he was seeing Shookus in a low-key way, then that cooled because she was still married. It goes with their on and off again thing. So, then he went for the nanny, then that blew up as we all know. He tries – in some way – with Jen but gets bored. Then Shookus came back into the picture because they’re “friends” and kept in touch via text (uh-huh) and now here we are. All the while, he’s pushing the family image with Garner as they agreed and maybe on some level trying to give it a try but it wasn’t genuine because he checked out of that relationship years ago. He’s not meant for monogamy with anyone.
@Grapefruit – I agree. But you know that when Jen goes public with someone, there will be an outpouring of positive support even though, to a degree, I feel like she’s been a key participant and enabler in this entire drawn-out drama with Ben. I really just wish they’d both move on in their own ways since their marriage has been over forever like you said. He can be a perpetual bachelor if he wants, and she can find, well, I’m not sure who since I still believe she puts Ben on a pedestal and probably compares every other man to him. As we’ve heard, she “worships his brain” (eye roll). I’m betting she’ll stage a date soon so at least she’s on an even playing field in the public eye. ;>
since I still believe she puts Ben on a pedestal and probably compares every other man to him. As we’ve heard, she “worships his brain” (eye roll) AND that is why she stays being the most pathetic thing ever. the nanny was humiliating for her but at least that was a fling. this years-long relationship that ben has been having and she still worships him? i just can’t with this bozo.
@JoJo and @h totally agree with you both.
BUT – it gets even juicier as far as the timeline and Jen’s PR team are concerned.
Us updated their story AGAIN (People and Us are on fire today) and it seems to be from Garner’s camp with the headline “Jennifer Garner ‘Is OK’ With Ben Affleck Dating Lindsay Shookus.” Then the article says “Jen knew about the new relationship and still chose to go on vacation with Ben for the 4th of July. She is OK with it.” LOL. She’s still trying to be Saint Jen but we all see how deeply sad and doormat-like this really is.
Now, before you join me in all the eye rolls, a bit down the page the quote about how this has been a full-blown affair is revised to include a bomb: “Ben and Lindsay started their affair about three years ago, just a few months after she became a mom.”
That’s some significant “don’t come for me, I’ll send for you” from supermom Garner, dinging Shookus as a mom. I think People’s timeline stemming from 2013 is accurate and makes more sense, but if this is true and Shookus had an affair with Ben just months after having a kid then she is just as vile and nasty as he is. And now everyone knows it. No wonder the pap pic of Garner is one of her acting totally chill. Sick burn.
@jojo I dont think we’ll see that for a long time. She’ll continue along this my-life-is-my-kids martyr path until she totally plays it out. Think about it: Ben is proudly and boldly out with his new woman, while frumpy, unkempt Jen is at home with the kids. What a saint! Yadi yadi yada.
Grapefruit, all along I thought the nanny was just a setup/coverup for something much worse. What could that be, one might ask, given what we already know about his *demons*?
With his behavior and appearances, though, I never believed it was only alcohol (or gambling or cheating) – but more serious, like opioids, or why else WB would want to protect him, itself and the Batman franchise.
Yet I wonder if this affair was all a part of that lifestyle and trying to escape his marriage. And how will this not-so-new relationship really play out now in the cold light of day if he’s supposedly sober? No matter…
From Changing Lanes, in the words of William Hurt’s AA sponsor to Samuel L. Jackson’s recovering alcoholic: “Booze was never really your drug-of-choice anyway; you’re addicted to chaos.”
https://youtu.be/TEodx0CTTgE
@elle EXACTLY. so on point! I always quietly wondered the same to myself about the nanny and if the addiction elevated to something more serious over the last decade. WB is banking on him to come through with this franchise. that amount of pressure for someone struggling long-term with sobriety must be insane. so, I’m totally with you. so much chaos. this long-term girlfriend must have been the big thing going on behind closed doors. but boy did you hit the nail on the head. he IS addicted to CHAOS. always has been because he loves to be the underdog, the phoenix rising from the ash (hello, sad back tattoo). since his addictions first came out around the time he was with JLO, made all those terrible movies, banged strippers, then met “the right Jennifer” (eye roll) and used that relationship for good PR to get back on his feet in Hollywood. rinse and repeat. I have a hunch this woman is also an enabler, helping provide him an escape and distraction, enforcing that lifestyle (SNL folks are known to work hard, party harder) and she’s done it for a few years, at least, as “friends.” PR-wise, she looks good on paper (at least she did until yesterday, lol), but now that the relationship is out of the shadows and he’s sober (hopefully), it will be interesting to see how he “rises from the ash” this time around, leaving behind Jen, eventually Shookus (where he’ll make a big show) and then the “working on himself” narrative continues.
How many side pieces did Ben have over the course of his marriage? This chick, the nanny, Blake Lively, Emily Ratawhateveritis….
So many, some of them are not famous!
There is a picture of Lindsay’s ex and their daughter on his FB page. She is young. Maybe around Ben’s son Samuels age. He looks like a nice guy. Their daughter looks like her.
Jen is the ultimate doormat if even half of what is being claimed is true. What a pathetic clinger. Ben is an ass for doing all of this but SHE is the one who decided to put up with it. I just can’t summon any sympathy. She has always known what he’s like and what he’s doing. This marriage is the only thing keeping her relevant all these years. It sure as hell isn’t her career.
Has Jen done a pap stroll yet today?
@tinsley she sure has! in her gym clothes from this morning on DM.
Everyone has been so duped. You believed that whole ‘happy co-parenting and maybe they’ll reconcile’ garbage? TMZ has known that he’s been dating for months. X17 has known about Lindsay for at least a month. Us sat on pics of Ben and Lindsay for days. These pics existed for a long time and paint a VERY different picture of the situation than what they’d have us believe. Suddenly all the tabloids have blabbermouth sources who days ago were gushing over Bahamian vacays and togetherness. The marriage was doomed from the start, when Jen stupidly tried to turn a ho into a housewife, so to speak. Everything since has been spin, spin, spin. It was never real.
I never believe for one reason.When Affleck knows He Is photographed ,he pulls a belly.
I have thought for a long time that there was a “big story” out there and now we have it. Ben Affleck is a hot mess. So many people have been hurt by him. Was she in the limo with him when he appeared so disheveled? What a pig! I think they sat on this story out of respect for his family. I think the floodgates are open now.
I wonder if she was the blonde in the Uber in Miami. I think he played Jennifer Garner, the nanny, and all the others. Once more his kids are exposed to another scandal. They are welcome to each other. He won’t be around his kids much anyways. He is always filming and now he will be in NYC. Just gross.
the only part of this whole thing that I DON’T buy is that it’s a new, casual relationship. there’s no way. no one would open themselves up to public, tabloid scrutiny like this unless it was serious. and ben isn’t sneaking her around anymore, either.
Ben and this woman are both selfish and both jerks.
The story early today was “oh it’s new, they’re testing the waters”. The 180 turn came from Garner “sources” so my guess is she saw the headline trying to whitewash this new relationship and went “F**k this!”.
Now he’s the confirmed cheating liar and the new woman is not a new love but rather a homewrecking hussy (who tried to hide it, see also the Amanda Seyfried handbook). Point to Garner and so much for the friendly shiny happy facade.
Nah, Garner gets no points from me for hanging around for years like some loser while her husband cheated on her like this. Spineless. Although I AM very happy that the shiny, happy facade is finally over. That was so fake and I never bought it. “We’re a modern family!” yeah, right! liars, fakes, etc
Oh I agree she was nuts to stay as long as she did and have a band-aid baby but I’m giving her a point today. He and this woman clearly had a PR plan to introduce their relationship in the most “respectable” terms possible and Garner just blew that plan to hell!! 😂
but made herself look stupid and pathetic in the process so I’m going to have to agree with h, she doesn’t look much better here
@Mia4s LOL dying! They really did have a PR plan and some back-up messaging to talk about their history but “oh, we’re still NEW” Pffffft puh-leaze. The boning is NOT new. Frankly, all three of them look absolutely terrible coming out of this. I find it hysterical how this story took such a sharp 180 when Jen dropped bombs and blew their little plan to hell. Jen is a doormat, sad to say, but I definitely give her points today.
lol I think Garner may be better at PR manipulation than Jolie and Pitt. She’s an absolute boss at it.
I don’t think she’s won any points in this. She’s confirmed Ben’s a cheater, which, duh. Everyone knows that. Everyone knew that long before he got with Jen. He might as well have it stamped on his forehead.
What she’s really confirmed here is that she knew exactly what she was married to, exactly what state her marriage was in, and chose to stay and bring more children into it and play happy families for the cameras. It just makes her look pathetic, and blasts any ideas that she was naive or clueless out of the water. She’s just told everyone she knew everything and clung on like a mollusc to a man that didn’t want her anymore anyway.
Grapefruit, I’ve never really been a fan of Jen or bought into her phony PR-planned life.
“The lady doth protest too much” is something I think we’re all fond of saying here. And I always thought that in terms of her own sanity and family, she loses more than she stands to gain. (More trite sayings: “The only way to *win* is not to play the game”, and the one about the poison-you-swallow.)
Anyway, there’s a photo of her today after her workout, of course, in her regular gym clothes, yet even I have to admit she looks prettier and happier than I’ve seen her in ages. (Her smile is genuine – or is it the cat who ate the canary.)
So…game, set, match…Jen?
totally agreed. but what is serious to you and me means something very different to Ben and Shookus, IMO. she’s been around since 2013. lost her own marriage in the process. but I don’t see this lasting, however serious they are or are not. this is not a relationship built on solid ground to begin with. it’s built on cheating, sneaking around and relying on hotel rooms in NYC. how you get ’em is how you lose ’em. he’s not built for monogamy and does not tell himself no. add all the flurry of stories coming out today and in future weeks and for something that is supposed to be exciting and “new” is quickly turning into stressful and sad.
Ben and Jen weren’t built on solid ground either. She became obsessed with him and cheated on her boyfriend with him. Swooped in after his engagement ended (bc he cheated on jlo with strippers ffs!). Got pregnant quickly after. Shak, shaky, shaky. And their “marriage” lasted 10 years.
@h very, very true. but has he built ANY relationship on solid ground? I use the word relationship loosely with him.
US Weekly now saying Lindsay &Ben had full blown affair 3 months after she had her daughter.
When Jen &Ben 1st announced their divorce,People had said that Jen had kicked Ben out but then forgave him and took him back. I bet this was the affair!
I think they both were torn about breaking up the family for their children!
@Carol I bet you’re right!! WOW. What a burn from Supermom Jen, outing Shookus for having an affair with Ben just a few months after giving birth. Point: Jen. At least the smiley happy plastic people have been put away and we can finally see what’s really been going down!
If Ben has really been in love with this woman for years and seeing her for that long, then trying to go home to Jen Garner, then no wonder he’s such a drunk mess. He should have never married her or stayed married for that long. So dumb and what a waste of everyone’s time.
Right, sounds like he knew he was stuck in a sham marriage with Jen. Jen knew he had a long term girlfriend during their marriage and it seems she tried to keep him by having more babies. Reminds me of Kourtney Kardashian. Ben probably thought he was trying to do the right thing by staying with Jen.
What a pathetic excuse for a marriage. This all started when Jen trapped him by getting pregnant- anyone with half a brain can see that was likely no accident on her part…Jen has no spine. Ben never wanted to be with her in a marriage but was trying to do the right thing despite not being in love with her anymore. (the long term girlfriend and affairs, the nanny support this). She guilt tripped him with their children and was such a doormat and put up with this so he never would leave. It seems to me HE was the one to finally cut the cord and i bet he prompted the filing– enough is enough, no matter how sorry he felt for Jen and how much he loves his kids he knew his marriage to Jen was a farce. I almost feel sorry for the guy for having that stage 5 clinger wife of his trap him like she has and refuse to file divorce all these years. No wonder he drank himself and drug himself to death- stuck in a marriage with a doormat like Jen who was living in denial..all in order to see his kids…miserable. In the end it seems Ben merely Put Up with Jen in order to see his kids.
Jen is certainly manipulative, but unless she was poking holes in the condoms, he’s just as much to blame for her getting pregnant. No one forced him to have unprotected sex with her. Same goes for the two subsequent children.
I’ve always been a Ben apologist, but he’s not a victim here. He’d been to rehab for alcohol and drugs years before he ever met Jen. He’s responsible for his behavior and he’s got no one but himself to blame for staying in an unhappy marriage.
I think he thought if he played her PR game for two years, she wouldn’t spill the tea. He should have known better. No one is more vicious than a Jen Garner scorned.
That is a lot of psychoanalysis and judgement built on some press coverage. I don’t know what goes on in my sibling’s marriages, never mind that of people I’ve never met. She has always seemed a pleasant and reasonably talented woman, he has always seemed like a smart guy with a couple of Oscars, with major addiction issues. They have lovely kids. They stayed in a marriage that was obviously no bed of roses. Beyond that, who knows? I hope the whole family find some happiness.
I never get this “trapped him by getting pregnant” thing… and THREE times? Wow Ben must be a poor dumb innocent! At some point he has had an orgasm and ejaculated in her vagina (I don’t know why I put that so graphically – but really!!) so he is enjoying himself enough for this to happen – where is the trapping?
There was a blind item about an actor who told friends that two of his kids were the result of sex when his wife positively assured him that she was on birth control and couldn’t get pregnant. I’ve always thought that was Ben and psycho Jen.
I said before I figured this chick was probably married when he got with her because he likes to break up marriages to feel bigly. This makes the third one! If he was a woman you’d all be blaming him and not Garner and calling him out as the whore that he is. Is Jen so bad because she put her kids first and decided to consciously uncouple with him? Sorry ‘h’ I don’t see the “shiny,happy facade” going away. Goop does it too! Does that make her a doormat or someone who just doesn’t care anymore? She obviously knew he flew from England to LA with his girlfriend and looked fine with it and him on July 4th. I guess he figured he’s single now, no reason to hide and it won’t be a big deal… but WRONG. I saw a video of this Nicole King look-alike (Jen’s BFF) leaving at LAX and thought Wo, girl, you’re in for some S*it from now on…” @Grapefruit “stressful and sad is right. Hope he’s worth it honey.
What marriages did Ben break up? lmao And Ben might be a whore but Jen is the one who put up with it. No one needs to hate him for her, remember? Her eyes were wide open the whole time. They’re a modern family. And so on, and so on.
What other marriages did he break up?
Jlo was married when he did Gigli and wooed her on set. Her marriage to dancer Cris Judd broke up. Got her. Jennifer was married when “they fell in love on Daredevil” (HIS words). Her marriage broke up although by that time, JLo had broken up with Cris Judd and Ben was with her. Although he lasted a whole 12 months with her before he was messing around with strippers. She forgave him, they were supposed to get married anyway until she saw the writing on the wall when he cancelled the wedding FOUR days before (the most unforgivable diss I can imagine) . Then after they broke up, Jen was divorced but seeing Vartan and Ben broke them up (I guess, although I don’t think it was really serious with Vartan, he was a colleague and friend when her marriage ended). So that’s two, now this one which actually is worse, because now not only is the woman he chased is married but he was too, with 3 kids as well.
Oh please. I’ll give you Jennifer Lopez but Garner? She was obsessed with him and chased him, and sacrificed her own relationships to be with him. You act like the Jennifers were unwilling participants or something.
She was married and had an affair with Ben shortly after she gave birth to her kid, three months I think People reported. She’s old hat to Ben already for at least two years, maybe more depending on whether you read People or Us. So yeah, he’s got quite the track record of helping to break up relationships and getting in bed with deeply stupid, gullible women. I bet this Shookus chic is like “Oh, my patience has paid off! We are finally together out in the open!” but ho boy is she in for a rude awakening. I don’t care if she’s in the biz or not – she’s BEHIND the camera and now is front and center in a harshly negative light. That can’t feel good. All her dirty laundry laid out to dry in ONE day and it’s literally ONLY day one. We’ll see how long this lasts. How you get ’em is how you lose ’em.
I’m sure he’ll spin this as “I’m not happy about the details being out there, but I am happy with her and am going to still see her” like he’s scolding the public by telling us he is seeing her no matter what. Sure, until the next thing comes along or until this relationship hurts his ego enough. Amazing to me that anyone would go for him right now with his messy divorce and addiction issues. No wonder he’s been such a serial cheater like his dad. Juggling all these different women through the years. I mean, jeez – he’s even cheated on Shookus, no? They’re all such messes. Laughably, now Twitter is comparing Shookus’ looks to Kevin Bacon in drag. Some Emmy-winning person pointed out that her two front teeth are different colors, LOL. Ughhhhhh.
Huh. One of the tabloids is claiming that Ben and Lindsay have been seeing other since even before his marriage to Jen. He’s not hiding her or sneaking around, although they obviously have done that over the last 13+ years. I think he’s already proven that he’s going to see her “no matter what”, if a marriage and three kids didn’t deter him. It’s all even more of a reason that I think there’s no way that this is casual. I think it’s actually quite serious.
Ugh, I don’t know. I kind of cringe at the interweb trolls attacking her physical appearance. I know they put themselves in this situation, but it’s so incredibly mean to attack someone’s looks, which have nothing to do with who a person is or their actions, whether good or bad. Of course, the Garner minivan majority is going nuts over at the DM completely trashing Lindsay. They’re going to trash anyone who’s not Jen until the end of time.
Maybe they’ll be like Charles and Camilla? Or Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward? Ok, I know this is Ben Affleck we’re talking about … Just giving them the benefit of the doubt. 🙂
These old fraus on the internet being mean to her is only going to make her more vulnerable in his eyes, and he’ll want to protect and defend her. I thought that the statement his source gave, that he enjoys spending time with her and is going to continue to see her, was very defiant. He so totally doesn’t care who knows.
@JoJo oh I know. The Twitter trolls can be cruel. I must admit I did laugh a bit. Primarily because I’ve been a Ben apologist for so long but now I can’t even defend him. They are both asshats and deserve each other which is NOT a compliment. I also agree that the nastier the Minivan Majority is to Shookus (that last name – oh the puns) the more he’ll defend her. The source on his side totally sounded defiant in the whole “he will see her no matter what” which proves what a child he is. Glad I’m not the only one to notice that. I think they are serious but I have a hunch the universe has other plans. Just my gut but it will be entertaining to watch it play out.
I’m NOT defending their past actions at all, but now that they’re seemingly going for it publicly, I kind of hope he has the backbone not to let the trolls affect what he thinks of her. I just watched the Hollywood Reporter video clip with her in it – it’s called the Next Gen 2015: Hollywood’s Up and Coming Execs 35 and Under. After seeing more clips of her, I think she doesn’t photograph well in some cases, but on video and in some photos, she looks pretty. There’s a clip where they all talk about their Hollywood pet peeves, and she talks about how execs act phony – from that clip, I could see her humor being similar to Affleck’s.
@grapefruit How were you an Affleck apologist …until now? We already knew that he cheated during his marriage. He’s an alcoholic and a gambling addict who put his wife last. What in the past 12 hours has changed?
I always thought he seemed so brazen and unapologetic in his nanny affair. With news of his long term gf, it seems Ben had a lot of anger and resentment towards Jen Garner which probably started with her getting pregnant “on accident.”His anger and resentment was apparemt when he threw the Nanny in Jen’s face. And yet she stayed. And he was still stuck with her in order to see his kids. She will never let him go, no matter how unhappy he was with her. She is an insane doormat.
I bet he was drunk a lot of the time they were intimate and thats why Jen enabled him. I never believed she truly wanted him to get sober, because the minute he got sober- he pulled the trigger ln the divorce and is now out with his long term gf.
It seems the minute Ben sobered up, he cut the cord and is clearly rebuilding a more authentic life by going public with Shookus.
I find the way this “new” girlfriend has blown up in his face so funny. Ben you are such a liar. We also know that ugly tattoo isn’t fake even though you lied about that too. Only thing, I hope the paps don’t yell at the kids about this. Can you imagine him as your father? YUK!! I think the reason Garner wants to be friends with him is to salvage their relationship with him not hers. Mary you are so wrong. HE didnt want to file for divorce because if he was just separated he wouldn’t have had to split his fortune 50-50. Casey still hasn’t filed for divorce but hopefully his wife will figure out its best that she goes ahead and does it.
Casey still hasn’t filed?! Really? I do not follow him or his life. Why hasn’t Summer filed?
Not disagreeing with the angle that JG threw herself at him. But I can see how JG thought she could change him.
Remember how many “Ben is marrying the right Jennifer” commentary from Ben’s Hollywood pals?
She more than likely thought she could win him over.
I question the intelligence of any woman who gives Ben Affleck a chance, but Jen had clung to him for 10 years and he pulled that kind of crap for 10 years. For godssake, his relationship before her had ended bc he cheated on his fiancee with strippers. She still let him hit it without a condom. Gross. And to this very day she’s STILL running after his mistresses and trying to bully them into leaving Ben alone? lmao I think it’s a sign of insanity to repeat the same behavior and still expect different results. No wonder she barely works, she has no time. She’s too busy trying to chase away all of his women. Pathetic frump stays pathetic. I’ll never believe that she ever kicked him out — I think he left her.
This new chick is not cute and if the tabloids are to be believed, both her and Ben sound like jackasses. They are probably perfect for each other! May they live happily ever after.
I knew Ben had moved on again. This time he was doing it so privately. He checkout a long time ago. I don’t know why Garners people keep posting the same narrative. Ben wanted out so badly. I am glad he is moving on and no longer hiding it. His new girl seems on his level.
Oh well. He and Jen were secretly separated long before they announced that they were, for months according to Jen herself, so i’m not surprised that Ben has had a gf since 2015. Who really thought that he was spending his nights alone, pining for Jen? LOL In other news, Jen needs to move on because the Ben ship has sailed and her desperately clinging to him over the years while he had one foot and his penis out the door, did not achieve anything. How much of her life has she wasted trying to control him and their marriage?
I read that as “his one foot penis…”.
x17 (i know, i know) is claiming that jen went to nyc and confronted this woman at one point. that is some astronaut-in-an-adult-diaper-to-drive-1000-miles shit, lol. how about you talk to YOUR HUSBAND and tell him to stop sticking his dick in someone else?? is this how she’s spent her years with him, chasing all his women around? for all her material wealth and privilege, i woudlnt want her life for even a minute. pitiful.
I understand where she is coming from. So someday she would look back and say , I did my best and no regrets. They have 3 young children.
As if their situation were already f*cked up from the start…”that is some astronaut-in-an-adult-diaper-to-drive-1000-miles shit”. Haha! Awesome 🙂
Here’s something to ponder. How old is her daughter? Maybe Ben has at least 4 children instead of 3.
+1
Oops! And who knows how many more…
E news said tonight her daughter is 4
I thought she was around Sam’s age. The daughter looks like her. There is a pic of her ex husband and daughter from 2016.
E news is really laying it on thick now. Ben Affleck is working hard to protect his girlfriend. I don’t think anyone is buying what he is selling.
@Tina what is E! saying?
I have a bad feeling Jen will one day go all “Betty Broderick” on Ben and a new wife/girlfriend after he starts publicly moving on with others.
News flash – he has started publicly moving on with others. And Yes, right, you might be right because she is SUCH a murderess. I know how you can feel it. Its because you know how hormonal and emotional these women are they are driven to kill. Why does this kind of misogyny seem worse when it comes from women then when it comes from men?
I don’t know but this thread is chock full of mysogyny and it’s a bit upsetting. “Trapped him, forced him to stay with her, didn’t allow him to see his kids, blah, blah…” Gross.
He must be very serious about her. He knew that the tabloids and the creeps on the internet would go after her. She’s a single mother of a very young child and a ~civilian. It was quite a risk to go public. His PR team is undoubtedly in protect and defend mode at this very moment. It’s not like he can abandon her either, not after what she has endured today and what will continue to happen. We all know how emotional Ben is, he’s probably more upset about the abuse that she’s getting rn than she is. And if he thinks Jen and her PR team are ultimately behind it, then bye bye amicable co-parenting exes.
ita and I think it surprised many that he stepped out with an age-appropriate single mother who works, and not some twentysomething boobalicious bimbo looking for a sugar daddy. If she’s guilty of anything, it’s starting one relationship before the current one has officially ended. And I mean, Garner knows alllll about that herself, eh?
Shes still almost 10yrs younger. Why are we giving him props for “age Appropriate?
The only reason he’s protecting her now is b/c he’s the one putting her out there. While he may be serious about her now, she’s only his *soulmate* until the sh*t-hits-the-fan and for as long as she can handle the pressure and public scrutiny. As for her being a “single mother”, I doubt she’s struggling, and w/all this flying around to meetup w/Ben and staying (or living?) at his place, her ex probably deserves sympathy for being the responsible caregiving parent.
Oh hey sasha/Lindsay.
I hate to sound like a sanctimommy b/c I’m single and not even a mother myself, and *maybe this is why*…
But does anyone else wonder how Lindsay’s traveling around to meetup w/Ben when her daughter’s probably only 4 or 5 yrs-old? I guess her ex is okay w/taking care of the tyke in NYC while all this is going on, just like Jen has done for years in LA. Sure, everyone’s “respecting” their exes, or some such selfish BS (hence, the PA remark about the affair that began only months after the baby’s birth, coming from Jen’s camp/Lindsay-lookalike BF manager, or I mean, US Weekly).
This is just so messy and sad, *it makes me wish people would take marriage more seriously* – or just don’t get married! 🙁
The same way Jen has left her three kids and taken personal trips (Mexico, NYC, DC, Paris, etc).
For work, not to date a man.
LMAO at Ana. Stay pressed and worship at the altar of Saint Jen and her army of nannies and servants.
FFS. Jen did not go to Mexico for work. She did not go to Paris for work. Be scornful and judge-y about something else, hypocrite.
It might not be for work, but for some R&R with friends but not to follow around a boyfriend around the world. Jen will surely do that someday . Hoping Ben will be there to return the favor.
RME at you acting like there’s some moral difference between going on a trip with friends versus a trip with a boyfriend. Either way, you’re not with the kids, so who cares? And frankly, Jen running off to Mexico with … whoever… the literal minute that Ben returned from rehab was wrong and I hope he had tons of extra help while she was off sunning herself.
Ben and his new piece are alike. Not concern much on kids stuff since both of their spouses are the stable parent. Ben and his piece look like they are party goers, drinkers, and will probably go along well with Matt and his wife.
Ben does what he wants because Jen is a sad doormat and has always allowed him to get away with murder.
I think it’s a bit premature to speculate about how much she’s traveling. We only know she was in London for a few days and then in LA for a few days. Clearly, Ben goes to NY to visit her as well. She probably splits custody, so when her ex has her daughter, she is free to travel – whether it’s for business or personal reasons. Plus, she’s a producer on SNL, so I’m guessing she’s relatively tied to NY most of the time.
Don’t bring logic into this, Jojo. You’re supposed to agree that this woman is a TERRIBLE mother bc she left her child with her father (gasp) to see the man that she’s dating (gasp) for a few days. How will anyone go on living?
It’s called joint custody. Jen has taken trips with friends, too.
Exactly, Ana.
Hey, parents deserve time away, whether for work or pleasure, but not for prioritizing extra-marital affairs above all else. (And if you care to know my thoughts on Jen’s career, just google or search for my previous comment here from years ago). This relationship has only been public for one day, and so far the rollout’s not going well for anyone.
Also not good for the kids, but I guess monica and sasha are okay with that.
Extra-marital? She is divorced and Ben is separated and divorcing. They are single and free to date and travel to see each other.
This was always going to happen when Jen or Ben started seeing someone else. Always. The kids may have already met her. You don’t know.
Hey, I wanted to sympathize w/Ben for being trapped in this marriage. Yet it’s coming out that this affair has heen going off/on long before both separated (nevermind that neither is officially divorced); hence, the term “extra-marital”.
Of course, and as always, no one really knows anything (unless you yourself are close to them?) But by all the passive-aggressiveness PR BS these last few years from “sources”, this is not getting any better, sorry to say. As said above, this is just messy and SAD.
I think @elle has a point and I agree that any logic @JoJo has should fly right out the window because this is Hollywood after all, lol. I think the three of them are all very sad and pathetic beyond belief, tbh. They’ve all done shady stuff, acted like children and seem to be super self-centered. Oh, Hollywood. How any of them are parents is beyond my comprehension. Hello, look at the storm created these past 12 hours or so. Cray cray.
I think touting Shookus as a typical single mom is a stretch. She’s an SNL producer who makes a nice salary and has a solid co-parent in her ex who she also cheated on. Pretty sure she’s not struggling to find daycare or a good sitter while she lives her life. She will be his “soulmate” (per X17 so who knows) until it stops working for him because that is just who he is in relationships, sad to say. She’s proven to be loyal so he’s coming through for her now, but he’s fickle AF. Shookus looks awesome on paper with her good career and being at a perfect age for him. I mean, at first I was like “alright, I like this” but now with the full picture out, it’s all gross. The patience Shookus has already had with him for the past 2 years, maybe more, and now dealing with public scrutiny that became bigger than I think either one was ready for does not bode well for a bright future because she’s not some stupid 20-something bimbo.
And Jen remains the doormat who I hope turns to some good therapy and a great new man with a massive D to live her life again, lol. I say this as someone who has never been a Jen person, but dang. I hope she can lighten up, bless and release for her own sake as well as for her kids. My god, no wonder her career is nonexistent if she’s actually chasing around all the women her ex was banging. Think about it – was Ben ever really “off” the market if he had Shookus as his side piece for at the past 2 years, possibly longer? And also, based on the timeline, it seems he even cheated on Shookus in the process because he was bonking the nanny and whoever else while still with Jen. Blech. I hope they all go get checked thoroughly for STDs because that’s a cesspool of nasty.
She’s probably legally obligated to share custody 50/50. So rather than stay at home alone when her daughter is with her dad, she goes to meet up with her boyfriend. Seems completely normal to me.
Oh yeah, and I’m sure her ex, Kevin Miller, was not at all hurt by their affair – b/c everything’s amicable, 50/50, and everyone’s happy now.
These are nothing like normal co-parenting situations, and with so much of this now public in the tabloids, these people are only causing each other further humiliation and shame.
And someday, no matter how “protected” these parents think their kids are from all this, they’ll pass along their pain.
Her ex seems to be fine with her. She recently threw him a birthday party.
What do you want people to do, live in misery with partners they don’t love or even respect anymore? Partners who use the tabloids to manipulate them? Is that supposed to be healthy for the kids to witness that? My god.
Get a clue, y. This is not about what I want. Haha! Something tells me by your insensitivity, though, you’re a cheater yourself.
And by the way, re-read my post – Jen G. does not get off scot-free for dragging this out in the tabs, using her kids, and making a career out of it. Everyone here on CB praises her for having a great PR game, but I think she’s passive-aggressive, pathetic, and phony.
They should’ve been honest and divorced a long time ago. Maybe we should at least give credit to Lindsay and Kevn for doing that.
But they WEREN’T honest and DIDN’T divorce years ago, so you still didn’t answer my question: what do you expect these people to do? They’ve been separated for years. She is divorced. They are allowed to date. Period. Move on.
“Move on” yourself, y. Seriously, you’re taking my comments so personally, I do believe you might be Lindsay.
I just read something that said that Lindsay and her ex are on good terms. She even threw him a birthday party.
It will be interesting to see if They are papped with his children or her daughter anytime soon!
His people are really trying to sugarcoat their romance now but the damage has been done. They are saying that the affair started back in 2013.
Has she moved to LA?
Bennifer 2 stans being butthurt all over the internet. You can tell that these people are super upset about the possibility of a reconciliation flying right out the window. No denying the divorce now. Twenty-four hours ago Ben was still a good but flawed guy who was trying. Today, he’s the worst person ever. Is Lindsay pregs?
I can’t believe Jenfan and A haven’t posted in here yet. The Allaffleck tumblr has not been updated with the new pics. 😛
I noticed that Tumblr page (AllAffleck) didn’t include the announcement that they actually filed for divorce. It appears to skip over any content that’s related to Ben/Jen going their separate ways.
@amanda
Well We’ve seen that happen before. And Jen will be turned on too at some point. The minute she is not the perfect snowflake
If Ben is happy without Jen that is how it is and how it’s going to be. Once the marriage is officially over he will be a free agent and I don’t think anyone should judge him if he wants to move on and be genuinely happy. If Jen doesn’t like it, she has to toughen up and STOP being so infantile and stop being slovenly and start doing more than making sliced bananas.
https://twitter.com/myfeetonfleek/status/883537656017059840
Interesting tweet.
I want to see those reciepts
Just read that Jen knew this wasn’t just sex…
Ben was infatuated with Lindsay. I guess Jen could deal with his affairs sadly, (and did)but this was different. I think this affair has been going on for a while. Maybe even before Jimmy Fallon got his own show!
Her husband might want to get a paternity test done. If they were fooling around starting at the after party for Heat back in 2013. That’s 4 years ago and her daughter is 4. Remember that long blind from several years ago that was clearly about Ben that stated that one of his mistresses had gotten pregnant and that his or team was going above and beyond to keep it under the rug. But every time he got drunk and was lonely he would keep calling her and it risked her husband finding out about them. Posters speculated that it was Olga from that Terry Malkin film he made in Oaklahoma or possibly even Blake Lively. Now it seems it MIGHT have been Lindsay. Since it seems they have been off and on for years!
^^This^^
The paps are going to be all over her ex and her poor daughter.
@Scottagirl , I think you could be so right!
Wonder what the count would be on how many women Ben has had. Bet Dennis Rodman’s record has been blown out of the water by Ben.
Regards to the tweet and posts above: Ben whined about being tabloid fodder and blaming it all on JLo for SO LONG. Look right in the mirror, boy, its your rampant boorish behavior that gets you in the tabloid and webloid press. Now we are going to have “he was cheating on Lindsey here, here and here…” stories and ‘ he is lying again, let’s find out the real story’ stories. Sorry, JoJo, I don’t think this is a Charles and Camilla cheaters live happy ever after. He’s not capable.
It is already started. I think that is why the off-again on-again scenario is being used. The suggestion that he obviously cheated with the nanny, co-stars, etc. I cannot wrap my head around the duplicity of Ben Affleck. How do you juggle work, mistresses, and a family?
Remember when David Fincher used that exact word to describe Ben – “duplicitous.” He was talking about just watching Ben take out and put his cell phone back in his pocket (or something similar) and said something like, “If I were his wife, I’d be suspicious.” Part of the reason he chose him for GG.
@Lisa – I know, I’m sure you’re right. 🙂 Ben is his own worst enemy after all. Whatever is to come now though (and I’m sure it will include more Ben scandals), I’m happy Ben and Jen have finally ended their desperate marriage, which should have ended years and years ago.
Ben and Garner were cheaters who were “happily ever after” for a long ass time until the messiness leaked out. And Lindsay won’t be running to Vanity Fair to spill if it doesn’t work out. I see her as more of the Lucy Damon type of role.
That tweet tho. Wow. I believe it. Sadly. But I do. Keep in mind, he’s cheated on Shookus, the long-term girlfriend/side piece, too by still carrying on with other women. She and Jen share that in common. This “connection” they claim to have is likely routed in the safety of the privacy they shared. Happiness in their own little world. That’s blown to hell now. I’m sure this is serious enough for him to come out with it – and she thought it might go differently with an entire PR team involved so she went along for the ride – but now that ALL the dirth laundry is out and I’m sure there’s more, I don’t see this being a “happily ever after for cheaters” scenario. This woman is book smart (clearly relationship stupid) but shortsighted and Ben puts himself first ALWAYS.
There is nothing revealed here that is surprising to me. Ben’s been checked out of this marriage since before Sam. If the tabloids claiming that he’s been seeing this woman for years are actually right, then Jen is even more pathetic than I ever thought. What a desperate idiot, clinging to him like a damn dog who gets kicked and keeps coming back for more. No wonder Ben didn’t respect her FFS. And she only just filed 3 months ago. SMH.
It took the doormat almost 13 years to file for divorce from all of this. The mind boggles. What kind of example is this for their kids? She desperately needs therapy. I don’t think she’ll ever move on. She’ll always pine for him.
Such a bad example for those poor kids. We’ve always known that Ben was selfish and a mess, but I think Garner is as bad as he is. She must have major codependency and enabling issues to allow this to go on for so long before taking control of her life. And I believe that she would still take him back if he wanted to. Psst: he’s just NOT INTO YOU. Sad sad sad.
Not so quick I don’t think that Jen was so pathetic I think she stayed to protect her kids. I think she knew if they did divorce she would have to share custody and not know how they were half of the time when they were with Ben. Staying married allowed her to keep control and watch over the kids full-time. I think she only three divorce if he cleaned himself up so she could be sure the kids would be safe with him when it was his turn. And I’m sure she is monitoring him for the kids sake
lol She was clinging to being Mrs. Affleck. It’s the best gig she’s ever, or will ever, have.
Nah, I don’t buy that she stayed for the kids. If she really felt that they weren’t safe in his care, she would never have agreed to joint custody on the legal filing. She stayed for herself.
Agree. “Sources” have said many times that Jen didn’t just stay in the marriage – even after their 2015 split – for the kids. She stayed because “she loved him” and really wanted it to work, blah blah blah. I 100% believe that because it fits with her laserlike focus on him since they met. I totally get being a complete idiot when you love someone, but when you see the depths of what JG knew about and repeatedly endured for more than a decade and still kept pushing Ben against all odds to fight for their marriage, it shows a huge lack of self respect – and really just blind, illogical determination to stay in something that is so clearly not good for you. While Ben is obviously at fault for all of his dbag actions and for not having the backbone to leave when he should have, it shows something about her that’s not quite right either. Her issues are just more subtle and more hidden behind her sweet, dimpled, martyred facade. I just watched their 2013 SNL video skit together – wow, amazing to watch now knowing everything.
Do you really think he’d actually want 50/50 physical custody? He’s always been extremely clear about work being his priority, and about relying on Jennifer and nannies to do the childcare stuff. He’s the kind of father who does a school run once a month and tags along to a weekend outing every couple of weeks. I don’t see divorce changing that, in fact I expect he’ll check out even more.
If anything I think Jennifer was pushing the whole drawn out ‘co-parenting like we’re still a couple’ thing because it’s the only way to keep him in the kids lives more than every other weekend.
I think she pushed for that so that Ben would be in HER life more than every other weekend and holidays.
Mark my words: Lindsay will be Mrs. Affleck #2. Her reputation is being trashed in the tabloids left and right, probably because Jen’s PR team started a smear campaign. This isn’t some young, dumb bimbo — she’s an award-winning, well-respected person in the industry, who also has a small child. Ben will ~do the right thing and make an honest woman of LS. His PR team already started a public campaign to defend her.
Absolutely. The entire wording of their coupling was indicative of this being the real deal. No one would subject themselves to the scrutiny if they weren’t serious.
@kelsey her reputation is being trashed because she had an affair with Ben Affleck. Doesn’t really seem like it was super secret. So many people knew, it was only a matter of time before they came out. He started smiling at Easter after they filed and is still smiling. Maybe they wanted to wait until the kids were out of school to go public. Was she the blonde seen going into the Beverly Hills Hotel shortly after they announced the separation?
E broke the story of their relationship and portrayed it as brand new and beginning stages. No one knew about the 2013 affair until Garner’s sources lashed out to us weekly.
The drive in a compulsive gambler is the thrill of the bet, not the winning. Their clandestine relationship has fed that thrill thus far. When he starts to see his reputation being damaged so badly and the thrill has passed because they are no longer in secret…I don’t think it will survive with him.
@Deb +1
I think if he’s convinced the negative stories about Lindsay are coming from Jen, he’s going to go into protective mode over Lindsay. If he was as miserable in his marriage as everyone believes, he’s going to resent Jen for continuing to try and control the narrative.
He cares about public opinion, but if he feels like Jennifer is the one manipulating public opinion, his resentment will be more powerful than his desire to be liked.
Deb, exactly.
Jen didn’t come out swinging this hard at the nanny. Someone clearly wants to destroy this woman’s reputation with details like “they hooked up three months after she had her baby.” Someone is being supremely petty against this woman. I said this yesterday but hell hath no fury like a Jennifer Garner scorned. And there has to be some reason she’s coming at this woman more than she ever did Ben or the nanny. So yeah, I agree.
But you know she has sooo much more she could spill. He has to know if she was willing to spill this, she won’t stop here if provoked.
I think she stayed for her kids and to reach the 10 yr. Mark. She stayed this long, why not until 10 yrs. If all of this is true, good for her for holding out until she could cash in! No wonder the poor woman was going to therapy!
They didn’t have a prenup, she was always going to be able to cash in. And if she were just trying to cash in, why separate before the Batman money?
She’ll get half the Batman money. He signed his three-picture deal back before they separated and as far as anyone knows, they never filed legal separation papers anyway. It only became “legal” when they filed for divorce and he moved off the property. In the eyes of the law she’s entitled to half of whatever deals he made prior to the filing.
When did he sign the batman deal? She’s on record as saying they broke up ten months before they officially announced it. Usually if there’s an agreed upon “date of separation” it won’t matter when they officially filed for divorce.
@KB He was cast as Batman in August 2013. As for the official date of separation, that would be tricky to establish since he took his sweet time leaving the marital property. (Dumb dumb dumb)
I hope Ben isn’t her kid’s real father. He had bad genes. Three kids being burdened with them is bad enough.
The amount of duplicity from everyone involved is staggering. I know that Hollywood people lie through their teeth but all of this pretending just to maintain some fake family-friendly public image? It is clear now that their marriage and “modern family!1!” has been a total sham for years. Gross.
Wasn’t it a blonde that was seen with him in Nova Scotia per Lainey in early 2015? I remember a blind on CDAN that Jen had kicked him out about that time. Maybe that was her and that’s when she and Kevin Miller found out?
CDAN blinds are fictional, the disclaimer on his site says so. That’s why Blind Gossip stopped posting them several years ago. And BG is mostly made up too, so that’s saying something.
The woman in Nova Scotia was said to be a brunette. It’s possible this girl had brown hair at the time, or and probably more likely, Affleck just has h*es in different area codes.
Meh she’s very average and he’s in the raging stages of a midlife crisis. Jen is better off without this drunk blimp.
What’s really creepy is when Ben & Jen did that SLN skit (about him saying their marriage was work, Lindsay was behind the camera!
I think it would be hard to see your boyfriend with his wife and children in the tabloids, going to the Oscars, and not to mention, going on family vacations to Montana & the Bahamas.
From what the article said, it seems that SNL skit was filmed before Ben started the fling with Lindsay … but who knows at this point.
BUt it wasnt like she was for certain sitting at home pining away for him because…wasnt she married the whole time too?
This reminds me of Eddie Cibrian and Leann. Except at least Eddie and Leann left their spouses rather quickly. Well Leann ended things (which was probably the best thing for everyone in that situation) and Eddie got dumped. Jen Garner stuck around!! Iand the blinds about her lying that she was on birth control and getting pregnant against Ben’s wishes…that is downright loser behavior on Jens part. She was the huge orchestrator of her mess relationship with Ben by getting pregnant again and again and lying about being on birth control…if the blind items are true, I bet there is a lot of anger on Bens side. Jen tried to control Ben and it blew up in her face. Their relationship was not a case of opposites attract it seems
Jen was 39 when she got pregnant with Sam, 35 or 36 with Sera. All of their kids are exactly 3 years 1 month apart. Exactly. The odds of that specific a gap seems to indicate very careful planning and possible medical intervention. Getting pregnant on schedule at those ages isn’t quite as likely and to manage it twice?
I saw that blind. It was CDAN and it was written about the time one of those Matt damon comments was posted. CDAN even attributed the information to what Matt “wasn’t saying.” It was a total made up piece and ridiculous IMO.
Us did a bunch of follow up reports this morning, openly saying from a source “close to the former couple” that Shookus was the catalyst for Ben and Jen’s split and that she left her husband shortly after having her daughter to be with Ben. She would go to LA to scout for talent for SNL and meet up with him because she’s based in NYC and lives in the same building as her ex to coparent her kid who is 4 years old.
Wow, Ben. What a catch! NOT. I said above that she seems thirsty to me and now knowing this I stand by my first statement. This woman is sad and thirsty. She also seems to make terrible, wreckless choices and is now living those choices in public. She’s a fool. I wonder if she’s second guessing this and if his PR is already looking at a long-term timeline for this relationship. Nice job, career smart but lacks in character. She’ll do as the first public relationship he steps out in so it makes it easier – for him – when he steps out with the second public relationship down the road.
Ben’s not exactly a catch either. Neither is Jen, while we’re at it. All involved (other than maybe Shookus’ ex) seem to have trouble ending relationships before beginning new ones.
@Grapefruit – While I don’t doubt any of what you’re saying, I kind of think they had to know the sh** was going to hit the fan, but they decided to go public anyway so they can stop hiding their relationship. I agree they’ve both seemingly made some terrible choices, but that said, if Jen/her PR really unleashed all of the dirt/cheating info., she’s certainly not as worried about her kids as she’d have everyone believe.
Grapefruit and JoJo:
If any of the Twitter sightings of Ben w/a blonde over the years (Beverly Hills Hotel, hotel in Miami, weekend in Cabo) were true, then imagine the reported argument in that Uber…
Lindsay asking when he was finally going to get divorced so they can stop sneaking around and go public; Ben and Jen dueling in the tabloids, and Lindsay looking like a pawn. And Ben now putting her out there so Jen will have to face that the marriage is over – and to say to Lindsay, “See, this is how my life is, is this what you wanted?”
This seems like a high-stakes game where everybody loses, no one wins. Behind the scenes, and away from the children, of course (heavens, no!), I bet it’s been like War Of The Roses.
Ben was spotted with the family in London on the same day as the Uber sighting.
Not saying any of the sightings are true as I didn’t believe them at the time anyway. What I am saying is that maybe Lindsay forced the issue on Ben. (“I left my husband for you! When are you going to get divorced?”)
It’s not a sighting. There are PICS. Get a clue, elle.
Get a clue, y. I’m hypothesizing, why I’ve used the word “maybe” several times. Because we’re on a gossip site, and I don’t know them. But maybe you do, why you’re taking this so personally and trolling this thread.
You’re the one imagining fake Uber conversations between two people that you don’t even know, who weren’t even there. Get some help, Elle.
Oh my, you are taking this personally. (Is this you, Lindsay?) Apparently, you are also unaware that this is a gossip site. And that you are on it, trolling.
I am the second person in this post that you’ve accused of being Lindsay. WTF is wrong with you? Seriously. On a psychological level, what the eff is wrong with you? Your posts are the weirdest things ever. ETA: I’m well aware this is a gossip site, I just didn’t think that insane asylums would allow patients on it during computer time. But clearly you have access.
@y Don’t even bother with that poster.
It’s called sarcasm, y, and you might want to get used to it here.
Oh, Nancy, what has you so butthurt today?
I will never believe that he planned or wanted any of his kids. He’s no family man. Maybe JEN planned this out but I highly doubt Ben was in on it. It is well known that they were on the brink of divorce before she suddenly got pregnant with Sam.
@O I think that is cruel to say he did not want his children!
People said and I believe that he liked the idea of family but did not like the day to day responsibility.
I am sure he enjoyed making them! Lol!
I think the first pregnancy wasn’t planned but they decided to give it a go. Didn’t work out. I think he loves his kids but doesn’t love being a family man–or at least didn’t love being a family man with Garner. Then you layer his addictions on top of everything–not good.
It is ridiculous to say that a man who fathered 3 children was trapped into it.
I hate to say this, but I’m actually positively surprised. I thought his next woman would be a pretty cocktail waitress in her mid-twenties. Instead, this woman is accomplished, in her late thirties and normal/average looking.
Not that this matters, but I think Lindsay is far prettier than Jen. I thought he would pick someone plain and devoid of personality (Jen, the Nanny etc) but she actually looks like a fun person. She may not be a classic beauty, but her unique look is really attractive and I can see what he sees in her. However, this is just bound to be a disaster based on the circumstances.
I don’t get why some are calling her unattractive. She is in great shape. And I could name quite a few actresses that are called Beautiful that she looks better than or equal too.
To these bennifer stans who clung to the hope that they’d reconcile, anyone Ben ends up with is going to be a hideous dog. I think she’s pretty, Ben obviously does as well. She works for SNL, she must be smart and funny. It’s nice that Ben didn’t go for the shallow beauty queen type. Maybe he’s had enough of that.
People website now saying she hasn’t met Bens’ kids yet. That will be awkward. Off topic, both parties have to sign off on the divorce to finalize it, right? Is it possible Garner may not sign off, if only to keep him from marrying this one?
If JG does that she will look horribly desperate. Marriages fail. It’s over.
If one party delays, the other can ask for a default judgement or whatever it’s called. That’s what happened with Goop and Chris Martin.
So People posted another story about Jen dealing with this new relationship. It’s clear the problem is with it being that particular woman based on the affair. There are some pretty strong inferences in there that seem to be sending a message about how this might go down.
Somebody poked the bear.
Well, can you blame her? Its the worst. I have the US Weekly (hangs head in shame) that came out when this all first broke out in 2015. This was before the nanny was known about and gave all kinds of reasons why the marriage split up. (and there was plenty of reasons before the nanny– they separated before she came along).”Sources” said he admitted to an affair and she was devastated and threw him out but he begged her for another chance so she believed him and started therapy with him. Looking back everyone was looking for a co-star and they were off base – it was Shookus. I think it really stuck in her claw that he is blatantly lying to the public ” “been friends for a while but things got romantic [between the two] only recently.” “its early days” “its only been a few months” yadda yadda – he is a Trumpian scale liar. You know he has to have been lying to her all the time as well. And I know he is a perfectly charming and believable liar too. She probably thought she wouldn’t have to be around Shookus again ever. And that’s who her kids are gonna be hanging with, the little he sees them anyway.
Wait, so he “begged” for yet another chance (how many was that by then? lol) and then started hooking up with the nanny right away?
I thought it was interesting how the “source” tried to message it in the People article. As though Jen took this news in stride and knew he’d date immediately because “Ben can’t be alone.” It saves Garner’s pride by implying he had no choice but to take sloppy seconds because Jen kicked him to the curb. I think it’s the exact opposite. Ben has been seeing this woman off and on since 2013 – when he wasn’t alone at all, he was still with Garner. It’s clear he hasn’t wanted to be in that marriage for a very, very long time.
I don’t believe anything People “sources” say about the Garner Affleck situation. Maybe some of the other tabloids have generally decent sources but People has been doing some very generic speculating for a long time.
Nothing saves Jen’s pride at this point IMO. She has been revealed as having no self-respect or dignity. She really needs to get some therapy and I hope she has.
TO Y: Well,, people and US have sources, some people here believe in the blind items and that they know what went down themselves. In truth nobody really knows the truth. But no, US said she took him back, but there was also drinking gambling etc etc then we know the nanny came after they were actually separated
But what can Garner do? Demand more money? He obviously doesn’t want to be married to her anymore. If she leaks details about Affleck having a long term affair with this woman, or something, I don’t see how that benefits JG. It just makes her look more desperate, staying married to someone who has checked out. There have been rumors for the entirety of their marriage and they’ve been separated for ages…they need to shut it down and move on.
This affair, I think, put her through extreme hell. She has obviously sacrificed personal feelings about past hurts to keep an open family with him in spite of much she’s endured. If I were faced with having the biggest hurt in my life a close and active part of my like for years to come,(: I think I’d say no, that’s a line we can’t cross. He is free to date and marry her of course. But if he pursues that it may well change the dynamic of the future family situation.
I think there was a lot of stuff that happened related to that affair and it’s more hurt than she can overcome.
She is also entitled to say that is a barrier she can’t cross because ultimately the kids would see the tension and that would defeat the purpose of the open family unit.
I think she could find a way to accept another woman , just not one with a past so intertwined.
But she’s going to have to accept another woman, even if it’s this one. She doesn’t have a choice. They’re getting divorced. There’s no coming back from this one. What it could mean though is that they eventually have to stop pretending “everything is the same”, “we’re one big happy family that still does averything together.” They’re not. They can still be good co-parents and both be present, but the regular vacations and every holiday together seem somewhat unrealistic as they move on seriously with other people.
I totally get where Garner is coming from. She may not have a choice in whom Ben dates but it makes a huge difference in how you relate to the “next” woman.
My father eventually married the “other” woman who basically tortured my mother during her marriage with details of his affair. Like she would call our house and let my mother hear him snoring over the phone. She engaged in very cruel actions flaunting her affair with my married father in my mother’s face.
My mother stayed long enough to get herself financially secured then she left and divorced him. He eventually married his then mistress.
I was seven then and I witnessed a lot. I was aware of a lot. My mother tried to shield us. I don’t recall her badmouthing him – in fact most of my childhood memories of me and him are fun and happy. But a few are scary too. He did not handle alcohol well.
But people talk ,neighbors talk and the tension is impossible to hide. Kids are not stupid.
After the separation/divorce I remember him packing his clothes and moving out.
I will be 40 years old this year and my father has been deceased for 10 years. He and I managed to have a civil/friendly relationship (other factors were involved that challenged us) but we never truly reconciled as father and daughter.
And all now I cannot look at his widow (his former mistress) with any respect. We are civil as needed (like planning his funeral) but she knows better than to call my house for anything else.
So I get it.
Garner can accept anyone else. But THAT one.
Garner’s gonna have a rough ride since Ben seems intent on Lindsay.
Good luck to them all.
People magazine should be taken with a grain of salt. They have zero credibility.
Yes, but sometimes it’s just clear what is between the lines too.
I think this divorce is about to get dirty. Jennifer is officially being left for the Other Woman and it looks like she’s tired of playing the long suffering wife role. Ben is about to be put on blast and I’m sure Jennifer has all the receipts she needs.
What could she reveal that we don’t already know or presume? lol That he cheated on her even more (and she stood by and took it)? There’s really not much left at this point that would shock anyone.
She could always expose him as the crappy, absent father he’s always been. Addicts are never good parents. I don’t know if she’d go that far though.
I mean, he’s already exposed himself as that. In interviews he fully admits he doesn’t have that much to do with the kids and is more interested in work, and he didn’t really try and hide the fact he was also spending massive quantities of his non-work time gambling and partying instead of at home. Hell, in the year before they separated he was actually flaunting the fact he was practically living in casino’s.
He’s never really played the family man, not properly. He’ll do photo ops, but his words and his actions have always made his priorities crystal clear.
Unless she has him on video using the n word or doing something illegal, she’s got nothin’. The world is already over-saturated with Ben being a philandering drunk.
I think this was the ultimate counter punch from Ben. He had a full-blown, devastating affair with this woman and now he has not only brought her back into their lives but into the public sphere. He’s already been defiant about seeing her, and he’s already started defending her honor. This is what he really thinks of Jen. Nevermind the tabloids, they’ll feast for awhile and then move onto something else. But on a personal level, there’s no way this doesn’t cut Jen DEEP. He literally picked his mistress over his wife.
Maybe Jen will have her “people” start a dirty fight in the tabloids, maybe not. Everyone loses when they engage in a tabloid battle like that. Ask Jolie. And at this point, everyone involved in this mess looks like pathetic trash, including Jen. I mean, we all knew that it was like this behind the scenes anyway. Who is really surprised that Ben had affairs, or that Jen took him back every time, or that he eventually left her for one of them? SHOCKING. You mean, they aren’t going to grow old together?!
Thing is, none of this tabloid stuff will affect his career at all, which is why he’s never really cared. He overreacted back in the JLo days. We’re long past being the kind of world where we need our movie stars to be arbiters of morality.
I don’t think she’s gonna get in a tabloid war. She’s called them out and Shookus ran like a scared rabbit so there’s that. I’m sure they will go back to consciously uncoupling because they’ve committed to it, but I wouldn’t say stuff like this doesn’t matter. His brother Casey and he are seen by a significantly large number of women (except the apologists) as cheating, gross, drunken douche-bags. And that spilled over onto his appeal (or rather non-appeal) before and will again. I mean in the early 00s there were think pieces about how much everyone hated him. Casey will continue to do independents where no one cares and Ben should just thank his lucky stars he’s got Batman and the other Warner stuff because like TIME called him, he’s an “unlovable star”
She didn’t run like a scared rabbit. She went to LAX and faced the paps. She seems to be based in NYC, I don’t think she lives in LA. If Ben had sneaked her out on a private plane, then maybe you could say that she went into hiding, but that didn’t happen. For all of the “gross” comments online about Casey, it didn’t stop him from winning an Oscar. Ben might be an “unlovable star,” but he’s still a star. He continues to make millions per film and have a successful career, despite the nanny, the booze, the divorce, everything. Getting a girlfriend is not going to matter to anyone in the industry in any real way.
That unlovable star comment stuck with him. So much so that he married Jen when he wasn’t all that into her. I remember he referenced it in an interview ages ago. It’s the stuff that haunts him. Like any other egomaniac star, and especially one carrying a major franchise, he can’t stand not being liked. He is defiant, yes, and childish but ultimately it irks him that people hate on him. That’s why he blamed JLo all those years for being in the tabloids. “It’s not her, it’s me.” If he didn’t marry Jen, he wouldn’t be a movie star right now. And I say this as a non-Jen fan. Never cared for her but boy did she help with his image, giving him time to focus on revamping his career. Mark my words, he is using this Shookus as a pawn in his failed marriage, as a PR tool and to stroke his ego. She is the perfect distraction, he’ll get that gambling thrill in the form of going public, stick it to Jen because of all the resentment, and protect and defend Shookus because he’s the one who put her here. His PR team is trying to fluff her up for the next few months of dating in the hopes the people will be ok with it when in reality he’s lied to everyone again. Sure, she’ll be around for a bit. They planned for that. His PR planned for that but knowing any celeb and their team, they are also planning for the exit. It’s one big storyline to complete for a celebrity like Ben. Once he gets what he needs – because remember he’s cheated on Shookus too – he will toss her aside and move onto the next. After Jen, I don’t see him marrying anybody for a very, very long time.
“That unlovable star comment stuck with him. So much so that he married Jen when he wasn’t all that into her. I remember he referenced it in an interview ages ago. It’s the stuff that haunts him.”
Grapefruit, no matter what the guy’s done, this is heartbreaking. He’s an addict. And sorry to say, Lindsay may inadvertently be a part of all that. The risk of getting caught is a high in itself. Yet I fear, like you said here, that he’s now putting her out there as a pawn, though there may not be any exit necessary…
This is not a “summer fling”. Ohhkay, if they say so. But come Fall, when the reality of their lives sets in, with him staying near his kids in LA, and her living/working/being near hers in NYC, and with the excitement of their secret affair now gone, the relationship may fade all on its own.
The sad thing about this is that this is all out on the internet and Ben and Jen’s children will read all about their parent’s marriage some day!
I think Jen was blindsided by Ben & Lindsay going public with their relationship. She probably wanted them to sit down and discuss this with their children first. (So much for working together!)
Do u think Ben planned on them getting papped?
Sadly, he has shown for years that what is best for his family is down the list for him, so why should now be different, right?
I emphathize with Jen and feel like it must be like learning of the affair all over again.
Kind of hard to be “present” when you are engaged in so many other activities. Violet seems so close to Jennifer, this latest scandal is going to be especially hard on her. She is not photographed as frequently as the other two. She is old enough to understand things. Seems pretty clear that her father chose the girlfriend. I don’t know how the family unit goes forth. They can spin it all they want but this is a damaged family.
I agree, a very damaged family. As hard as this is for all involved, as a child knowing your dad chose a girlfriend over you is just to much. It’s to bad he couldn’t wait a year to work on his sobriety also. I wonder if this Lindsay chick will support his “rehab”, or if she likes to drink/drugs.
ET is now saying that Lindsay & her ex are just as amicable as Ben & Jen. It says that they are separated and that her ex has already known she is dating Ben. It also says something like they work in the same building but different floors. And they are so friendly that they sometimes grab lunch and visit each other during the day.
Are u kidding me?!!!!
Ben’s team is really trying to revamp her image!
I wonder if Ben will show up at church with Jen & the kids tomorrow?
Agree, I smell Bens’ PR all over this. It also says they are separated, but filing for divorce. Setting everyone up for the engagement I guess. Regardless of how they sugar coat this, both are still legally married with young children. Will take a lot of PR work to change that. Agree with some of the other posters, this probably won’t affect Bens’ career all that much, but the relationships with his children are a different story IMO.
I saw that! It made me realize that although you can’t always tell which “source” is from which camp but the kinda syrupy kumbiya descriptions of “they are working hard at their relationship, having dinner with the kids, they have a great deal of love and respect for each other” and so on, is definitely from HIS camp. They unleashed almost the exact type of wording for Shookus and her ex, although they’re pretending its coming from their camp, which is silly of course– I’m sure they don’t have their own PR team so it just sounds so phony. Makes you realize that Ben REALLY is bothered by the tea being spilled and ruining his roll-out
Why is it that that stuff definitely came from his camp? Garner is the one who hung around like a dog, waiting and hoping that Ben would give up his mistress and return to her before anyone found out about it. It makes more sense if the happy family garbage came from Jen’s camp.
One, I hate how people are saying this is a “downgrade” simply looking at her pictures. All things aside, this is just reinforcing that all that matters in a woman is looks.
Two, I recently came across a very old tidbit from Casey where he said “Ben was gay when he was younger” (& insisted he wasn’t joking). Interesting to say the least.
I hate it, too. It’s the height of hypocrisy. I could see how for someone who is surrounded by models and actresses all the time, a regular-pretty-but-not-perfect face is probably waayy more interesting. (That sounds like a really backhanded compliment, but I really don’t mean it like that) I bet Lindsay’s also more confident/less neurotic than your average actress and that can be extremely attractive.
I think this is a new insight into Ben’s taste. This “woman” does not look like a woman at all. Check out the jawline, the hands, and zoom in on the pics. She looks like a man. Maybe a transgender woman?
I also feel bad that people are trashing her looks. It’s really nasty. I just don’t think she photographs well in some pics. I said this before, but her face looks very similar to the actresses Frances McDormand and also Amy Smart. And Nicole King! I do think she’s pretty in a non-typical Hollywood way.
As for Casey saying Ben was gay when he was younger … even if he “insisted”, that’s total Boston dry, sarcastic humor. If he really was, I don’t think Casey would feel like he had the authority to be the one to announce it to the world.
Well that’s the thing. It was NOT announced to the world. It’s never been reflected in the press b/c he wasn’t talking to the press. It was in response to a fan question. You could be right still, but I personally don’t think Casey was kidding.
If both are separated, both have a right to live their own lives. As for church, those will likely end soon as well. Jen is causing a lot of her own suffering by refusing to let him go and gain some self respect.
What do you mean refusing to let him go? They separated like 3 years ago. He comes to church on his own accord and she doesn’t usually look like she wants him there. HE goes because his kids go and I don’t think he sees them much otherwise. Anyway, he’s leaving on a jet plane yet again being an absentee crap father. And what’s with the limos all the time now Ben? Is there a mishap with an automobile while drinking we dont’ know about?
I strongly suspect he still has a massive pill and alcohol problem and is avoiding driving under the influence.
He still has that glassy eyed high look regularly, he’s still got that sweaty pallid greying skin tone prescription drug users get, and his weight and bloat levels are still fluctuating like someone who’s veering wildly between alcohol abuse and drug abuse.
The little rehab stay he did was PR. A 3-6 month stint would have been advisable and suggested he was serious, but he did the bare minimum 30 days, within which he left quite a few times to go to events.
Jeesie, I think you’re absolutely right. And I’ve speculated about this before, much to my own dismay. It’s not easy to watch, especially as opioids are hard to kick, and relapse so common, I actually worry about Ben. (Is sex or cheating another addiction for him?)
When I see photos of Ben in/out of limos in LA, I hope it’s just him taking precautions – but staying sober. Sadly, I’m afraid many relationships do not survive ups/downs of addiction/recovery, especially ones started when someone’s actively using in whatever way, but who knows…
This is really sad if Lindsay is not aware of how much of an alcoholic Ben is.
JEN was right when she said when his Sun shines on you, you feel it. Lindsay is feeling The Sun right now…
With hindsight, that interview where she proclaims he is the love of her life but hadnt kissed her in 10 months is beyond pathetic… he had already left her for shookus. Have some self respect jen!! He doesnt want you
Hey shookus, RUN. Watching him dump Jen so coldly…you are watching your future too. Cuz he will do it to you too.
+1 Shookus is feeling the sun which doesn’t last. He’s so fickle. I’m sure, since they’ve been together on and off for YEARS, she’s felt the shade and when it wasn’t serious it suit her. Now that they are somewhat serious, enough to go public (and I think that’s his PR pushing strategy underestimating Garner’s team), his attention will eventually turn elsewhere because he was cheating on her as well as Jen. He also can’t stand negative press which is why his team is working overtime to make Shookus look better (of course through E!). I don’t think Shookus is fully aware of what she’s signed up for. I’m sure she is to an extent knowing him this long and his PR had a plan but I highly doubt that her or anyone who is not an A list celebrity could have any clue as to how bad this started and how worse it’s going to get. I was so hoping to see him be single and free, work on his sobriety and focusing on the Batman franchise. So much for that.
But he is single and free. No one said they’re moving in together or getting married. She hasn’t even met his kids. He’s dating. As for Garner, if her team is leaking info about him, she’s part of the machine pushing out stuff for her kids to read. Certainly not the sainted mom that she professes to be.
@JoJo I wouldn’t say he’s “single and free” because he’s STILL linked to a woman. He doesn’t do alone. No, they’re not doing the serious stuff people do in relationships yet but I certainly think this new relationship is harmful to his reputation as well as Shookus’ and Jen’s. Jen is no innocent – she never was and certainly is living her own karma right now.
Ben has been single since June 2015. And harmful to his reputation? Hahah what was his reputation a week ago? A philandering alcoholic who abandoned his family? Now he is a philandering alcoholic who abandoned his family and has a girlfriend. You’re acting like he’s taking such a huge hit here. We all know about Ben Affleck by now, none of this is surprising at all. It’s more of the same.
@Vanessa I never said his reputation was a good one. My point is that it’s already bad and has been for a long time. Now it’s even worse with details coming out that not only has he cheated on his wife but he’s also cheated on this girlfriend he’s stepped out with and whoever else. Like who hasn’t he banged?! And how does he find the time!?
Now he’s cheated on Lindsay, too? lol Okay, I’ll bite — when? Because a casual sexual relationship is hardly exclusive.
Grapefruit, “so much for that…” All I see are people acting/reacting out of pain, and I also had high-hopes for Ben’s recovery. Somehow, I just don’t think anyone’s going to come out of this very well or truly happy – ain’t no sunshine here.
I’m confused by everyone saying he chose his girlfriend over his kids. How did we arrive at that conclusion all of a sudden? Literally five days ago, he was at 4th of July with them and before that in the Bahamas with them, and everyone was all, “well, he’s clearly a good dad,” and “kudos to him for putting the kids first,” etc. Nothing has changed since then except we now know that he’s dating someone (details aside of who she is), but he was already dating her for months at the same time everyone was complimenting him on his dad efforts. I don’t get it.
Whether Ben is making good decisions with Lindsay is all on him now. It’s none of Jen’s business anymore. They’re done. All that matters is his kids, and there’s no reason to think yet that he has somehow abandoned them.
Me either. Half of marriages end in divorce. They are divorcing, not abandoning his children. Will give Jen credit for allowing him to have an open relationship with his kids and not alienating him from his kids cuz he doesnt want to be with her. Cuz its pretty clear he dumped her.
Not surprised Ben moved on publically first.
Who said Ben’s abandoning his kids?
My only concern for them is that all this PR BS, much of it back-and-forth between Jen and Ben (US Weekly vs People or E!News), is only going to hurt them when they read about it someday. If only they’d been honest with themselves or each other and divorced years ago, they could’ve saved everyone involved so much pain.
That’s all I’m saying.
I think People feel Ben “abandoned” (strong word) his children because he is always working and when he is not (as we found out) he is flying to NY to see Linday or she is flying in to see him. People or E has just said Lindsay has not met Ben’s children. There is only 24 hrs. In a day! He can not be spending time with his children and dating Lindsay.
To say he abandoned his children is wrong, though.
But to be fair, we have no idea when Ben goes to NY. We know he went that one time in April, and that’s all I’m aware of that was public (?) Ad we know, Ben flies under the radar very well, and we go weeks and weeks without seeing him, unlike Jen.
Honestly, while it’s obvious Jen loves her kids, I have no doubt she’s also uses “for the kids” as a form of leverage and control with Ben. The family dynamics were going to change at some point – it’s inevitable. Ben can date, so can Jen, and they can co-parent at the same time. It’s not much more complicated than that.
Yep, it takes two to tango.
Jen needs to fight to get another acting job stat, probably TV and focus on trying to rehab her dead career, or maybe venture into something new altogether, cooking show, mom show, I don’t know. But if she’s done in Hollywood and there is zero demand for her, then she should move out of LA, if she really wants to protect those kids, start a new life outside of this media glare.
You know, all this church going she’s doing, from where I’m sitting she sure hasn’t been blessed much, no love, no man, no career, and yet look at Ben flourishing in every way, her greatest achievement is being a mom, and that’s great but, I’m sure with her right now, life is pretty depressing, all that praying yet you’re still alone, unhappy and unloved.
You’re very negative. She doesn’t have to feel unloved or alone only because she’s divorcing. Love comes from many places. Maybe all she’s feeling is freedom and relief because that idiot is someone else’s problem now.
Don’t kid yourself. Jen Garner would love it if Ben Affleck were still her problem.
You never know….look at Nicole Kidman. You would have thought her career along with her marriage to Tom Cruise was over. But look at her now!
If Jen doesn’t get back into acting, I see her like an Angelina Jolie.
I think when their kids were younger & they could take them with them, (without worrying about taking them out of school)(or even left them with a nanny) Jen & Ben were good. But once they were school age, Jen stayed home with them and Ben was always away and they grew apart. Sad!
Kidman actually has talent and charisma. She also works hard at her career. Jen gave up and started phoning it in years ago.
I don’t think they grew apart when the kids reached school age. I think family life at home has never suited Ben, which is why he was always off working. I laughed when he was recently saying (lying through his teeth) how much he would like to put Jen in one of his movies. Yeah sure. That’s his precious time AWAY from family responsibilities. If she were on set, she’d be monitoring him like a hawk, nagging him about stuff, etc. He still thinks that we buy their little act. We all know the real reason.
LOL. Saw this article on Twitter about an ad exec at BBDO who selected Ben to be the star of a Lynx ad, where a man clicks every time a woman eyes him up. Apparently, this was back when he just married Jen and was expecting Violet. She said he “freaked out” and asked for other men to be in the ad so he didn’t look like a player. As I said, he is obsessed with his image and his reputation keeps taking terrible hits, with Shookus being even bigger than the nanny at this point. So bad and so predictable. Shall we all place bets as to how long this will last?
Lmao, why are you so convinced that Ben is going to drop this woman over some tabloid garbage? At this point, he must realize that no matter what he does, the whole family man reputation BS that he tried to build with Garner is totally over. It was a puppet show and we’ve all seen the strings. It doesn’t matter what he does now. He sneaked around for two years while they were separated and it didn’t change one thing. I think he will be with this woman for quite awhile. His defiant “and he will continue to see her” statement was enough for me.
I think the more the tabloids go after LS, the more devoted he will become to her.
He has been sneaking around for more than two years with this woman and with other women. And yes, he did it because he can.
Some one on twitter also said Ben tried to hook up with another woman in January. What is it going to take for some of his fans to realise his cheating is not because of Garner it’s just who he is. He will continue to cheat and abuse alcohol after Garner.
Everything randoms post on twitter is TRUE. We don’t need proof or anything…
smh
With his rep I bet a 100 bucks it’s true.
Then you’re a fool to bet $100 on someone whose twitter name is Zendaya’s ShoesRule and who has yet to post actual evidence of his/her claims.
I don’t think Ben is going to drop Lindsay. But rather, she might realize the pressure of being his girlfriend, with their past in question and now being papped/harrassed constantly, is too much. We’ll see…
I truly don’t get the vitriol for Ben. Only because this is the same Ben he’s always been. Nothing new to see here. Did everyone expect that he was going to miraculousy become a completely different person? Most of his marriage to Jen was a trainwreck. He’s single now. Let him make more mistakes or do whatever he does. Let him and Lindsay crash and burn if that’s what happens. As long as he’s a father to his kids, which he does appear to be. Meanwhile, Jen will continue to play this perfectly with her sanctimonious and dimply, “Unlike big bad Ben, I’m just focused on what counts – being a protective mama bear” martyr act. Ben’s definitely not husband material, but she is a master of manipulation and optics.
they are bennifer 2.0 stans who really, truly thought that ben and jen would get back together, even though we all told them for years that it wasn’t happening. now they are lashing out. they LOVED ben until 72 hours ago.
@JoJo agreed!!
I was hoping he would embrace the official bachelor life – I say official because clearly he’s always acted like a bachelor – and be more open about who he is because you’re right. This is nothing new. As a long-time fan I wanted him to own who he really is instead of playing some fake family dude which he isn’t. Maybe he thinks he’s doing that with Shookus but my PR background tells me he was stepping out publicly with her because she’s not a floozy people expected him to be with. I was hoping for more from him, particularly in regards to his sobriety but what do I know, lol.
Embraced the bachelor life? You mean, date a bunch of women and run around with Leo’s p*ssy posse? You’d criticize him for that, too. You allegedly have a PR background? lol okaaaaaay. So what does your “PR background” tell you about a man who goes public with his longtime mistress? That it’s a huge mistake. So you honestly think that he’s gone public with her to IMPROVE his image? lmao
Jojo, I agree.
Relationships built on lies and cheating seldom last. I say it’s a swift karma that people is going in about her looks. She looks terrible. Lindsay is much more thirstier than Garner could ever been if we take into consideration everything that has been out about Ben in recent years. This still did not deter her from breaking up her marriage with a young child to be with him.
Uh, what about Jennifer Garner’s karma? Hm? She broke up her first marriage for another man, dumped a boyfriend for Ben. What was it you said? Relationships built on lies and cheating seldom last? lol Looks like Garner’s chickens came home to roost. And it doesn’t matter what random nobodies on twitter think about Lindsay’s looks. Ben obviously thinks that she’s beautiful.
@east coast Exactly.
Jen has gotten her karma but with recent developments she is coming out smelling like roses.
Ben has been exposed as a cheating alcoholic with gambling problems during his marriage to Garner. The nanny scandal. Who would sign up for that? Does Lindsay really think she is the only woman Ben has affairs with after 2013?
Why does Ben go after taken women? Jlo was also married to a back up dancer when they began dating? Garner was married. This woman was married. He has a pattern. Where is his blame?
Jen smells like roses? To you, maybe. To me, she looks even more pathetic than ever, clinging to a man who clearly didn’t want her. “Who would sign up for that?” Uh, well — JENNIFER GARNER. Ben may be a louse but she’s the one who put up with it for 10 years. What’s HER problem? Why is she such a doormat? Does she not have any dignity or pride?
It says a lot about both of them. It took two to tango and fake their dead union, Jen did not do it on her own. Tbh I don’t think Ben is suited for marriage or any serious relationship. He is a chronic cheater. This thing with Lindsay is pr driven. Ben’s at it once again.
How exactly did you arrive at the conclusion that his relationship with her is PR driven? I highly doubt it. Even Ben could have made a better choice than his old mistress. That was obviously going to come out sooner or later. If he wanted good PR he would have picked an Amal Clooney type or even a Lucy Damon, someone who was completely new, unproblematic and unconnected to him or his marriage to Jen.
I just think it was too soon to go public with Lindsay. I know they have been separated for 2 years, but during that time Ben & Jen were photographed a lot together. They went away on family vacations and Christmas vacations . It didn’t matter if it were Lindsay or somebody else, it just seemed like very bad timing. (Maybe even if it was at the end the year)
You only say that because the tabloids duped you into thinking that Ben and Jen were going to get back together. They created these big articles out of nothing to make you dream and imagine and it worked. BA and JG have always said that they were just co-parenting. It’s for the kids.
@East Coast. I wasn’t basing my opinion on what tabloids said. I was basing it on the fact that they had not even filed. A lot of celebrity couples announced their divorces& filed right away (Hallie Berry, etc.) But Jen and Ben hadn’t.
Goop announced her conscious uncoupling in 3/14 but didn’t file until 4/15. It was finalized in 7/16. B&J always said that they were easing through the divorce for the kids’ benefit. I didn’t think anything of them taking their time to officially file. But it did give Bennifer fans hope and the tabloids fed into that.
But, Ben doesn’t owe it to random people on the internet (like us) who he doesn’t even know, to wait until we deem it’s appropriate timing for him to date. They’ve been separated – with intent to divorce – for two years and were secretly separated for many months before that, so we’re talking 2.5 – 3 years. Who cares if they were photographed together a lot during those years? They were coparenting – same as they were earlier this week on 7/4 and same as two weeks before that in the Bahamas. Doesn’t seem like much has changed – only that we now know about Lindsay when she’s actually been there for months and years. I think Ben/Jen fans will have to get used to the fact that there will probably be fewer “full family unit” outings. And you know what, that’s normal in every divorce. It doesn’t mean Ben isn’t seeing his kids.
@JoJo. No Ben doesn’t owe it to anyone to wait to go public with a new relationship but he and his team should be prepared for the backlash he might receive
That’s just bizarre to me. Backlash for what? Is this 1950? Should he be wearing a big scarlet letter D on his head? “Divorcing but dating”? I’m sure his team is fully prepared for the likes of the religious crazies and minivan majority over at the DM. For most of the rest of the world, they won’t care, and it won’t affect his career.
This is what happens when you live a fake life just to keep up appearances. Ben and Jen should have quit their sham of a marriage years ago, that much is clear now. I don’t really know or care how long Ben has been seeing this new woman. One thing I do know is that it must be serious if he’s taking her out in public. They wouldn’t submit themselves and their relationship to public scrutiny if it weren’t. I’ve always said that Ben would learn from his mistakes and probably be a good husband — to someone else. Jen was his enabler. She was so desperate to hang onto him that she let him get away with murder, which he knew. That was a mistake.
He gives me a Charlie Sheen / Johnny Depp vibe. Wouldn’t shock me if it turned that direction at all.
He gives me Charlie Sheen vibes.
Ben will also be fake and try to keep up appearances and image with relationships. This woman is/was suppose to be revamp his image. An Emmy winning producer with a career of her own. She is no dumb model just a down to earth all american blonde and the best part which turned out to be a huge lie – their relationship is in it’s early stages.
I am glad it backfired.
*always*
Seems to me that he knew it would all come out eventually and he doesn’t care anymore. He knew there would be a ton of interest in whomever he went public with first. He’s going to be with her no matter what anyone says or thinks. The fact that Jen can’t control him anymore with these little tabloid games must drive her insane.
Haha Jen control him through tabloid? Ben’s PR is the master tabloid game player. He totally controls the narrative in any way he can. Caseys oscar is a fine example. They have shaped everything and quashed what they didn’t like for years. He stayed in the marriage and used it to his advantage as he chose. I don’t think he wanted the home life, but he wanted the appearance of it. He doesn’t need it now, so he’s moving on.
Women truly are women’s worst enemy.
Casey’s approach to the scandal was to stay mostly silent about it. At the end of the day it was just a bunch of angry people on the internet, AMPAS did not care.
Casey as silent because Bens PR pressured reporters to not bring up the sexual harassment issue in interviews. That’s the point. They kept from getting out there the damaging stuff they didn’t want out there.
I think you mean Amazon’s PR team. Zillionaire Jeff Bezos was desperate for Oscar success. I doubt Casey needed help from Ben when he had Amazon in his corner.
Jen didn’t even wait 24 hours before spilling the beans to the tabloids about Ben having had an affair with this woman. It makes Lindsay look bad, it makes Ben look bad, but it also makes Jen look petty and vindictive and still completely hung up on him. Makes me wonder how long she held this over Ben’s head: go public with her and I’ll ruin her. If I can’t have you, no one will. … It’s sad, really. What happened to “no one has to hate him for me”? I guess that went out the window when he refused to give up his mistress and return to her. Who knows. It’s a pity that Jen didn’t devote this same amount of energy and planning to her career. Maybe she’d still have one. It’s obviously going to get ugly behind the scenes if it isn’t already and I hope that both remember that they have kids who are going to google all of this at some point.
It is pity that Ben Affleck didn’t try to save his marriage or better to have the balls to divorce before to humiliate his wife with his Not low key cheating.
Ben is like his ex Jlo always seeking public validation through a relationship.
Shout to the person who said he gives Depp and Sheen vibes. Great minds think a like.
I wonder when Lindsay will move to LA?
She & Ben will probably live together awhile before they would ever get married.
@ Greta You are absolutely correct when saying Ben would not have submitted himself or their relationship to public scrutiny if this wasn’t serious. But why say it is in”The early stages” when everyone knows it is not…just don’t comment further
I don’t think he thought it would come out. I think he thought he could put out the line as he wanted it and it would not be challenged.
Oh he knew that Jen would put it out there. He knows exactly the type of person that he was married to for a decade. Even I knew that Jen would do something and I don’t know her. The good news for Ben is that now that the 7/4 holiday is over, he doesn’t have to appear with Jen in public again until …? When? lol He does a good job of seeing the kids quietly with no paps, and getting in, out and around town without being spotted, when he wants to.
With her child, ex, and career mostly in NYC, I doubt she’d move to LA permanently. But the travelling for either one of them back-and-forth to maintain an LDR, no longer an exciting secret affair, and them both being busy, make it even harder. And if it’s true that Ben doesn’t like being alone for long, well…
@Deb – Then he did a very bad job of controlling the narrative. All I have heard during his marriage to Jen is playboy, strippers, alcoholic and cheater and Jen – the long suffering wife, great mother and saint. He can control what and when the tabloids print but he can’t control the way people reacts to the news and rumors, and the perception of him. Jolie trashed Brad in every tabloid and blog but she failed to get fans on her side. The comments on Jolie and Jen could not be any different if I have to compare. What I have read tells me Ben is not likeable because a lot of people think he is trash and not deserving of good woman like Jen. Not my words, just what the majority is saying. Lindsay’s appearance did not help.
In grand scheme of things, he is an actor and if his future films do well none of this will matter.
As long as his movies do well he should not care about any of that.
These comments about Garner makes me yawn. I try just to focus Ben and his behaviour since 2015. Because it was the year since he began to head downhill. Something happened to him. He was and always be a mess but he just can’t control himself in the last two years. His career – which is the most important thing for him- is not the same anymore either. The reviews of BvS were bad, and he is still not full accepted as Batman. Live by Night was unnoticable. (People will remember the movie because of the gossip about him and Sienna. Sad for him. Even Sienna was smart enough to not get involved his mess. Thumbs up, girl!) Suicide Squad was a disaster. The most successfull was The Accountant. He tries to rebuilt JL as an executive producer with the reshoots. The movie probably sucks when the heads of Warner and the producers decided to reshoot and add some scenes. Trouble after trouble. Maybe the one good thing was in his current life that Casey won an Oscar. Period.
Personal life: He officially broke up with Jen in 2015. I personally think they finished after Sam was born. Since then he is with whoever he wants. He banged the nanny, I almost sure he banged Sienna… and so on. The list is probably long. He looks bad. Just… horrible, tbh. His alcohol (and probably drug) addiction is getting worse. Rehab my ass!!! He was just there a month maybe? This is a joke. He wants to be seen as matured clean adult but the truth is he looked never happy the past years, looked always that he will kill himself… or drink himself to death. Things are much worse than in the JLo area. He needs help, because this new relationship doesn’t affect him either. Yes, he sells the lovey-dovey story with Linds, but poor Ben… I have bad news for him: nobody buys it. And not because of Jen. Because of him!!! Everybody is tired of his BS. He sells these stories for ages. The big love with JLo (I was sorry for her) then blame her for his miserable life. What a man… Then rush rush to Garner who was in the game and they were knowing each other since Pearl Harbor so Jen was not new for him at Daredevil at all… they had a past. And he knew that she will be the big rebuilt of his career and image. But Garner is out of the game, so he needed someone new – again. He was never single in public. Never. He always needs a (re)cover lady.
Go public with Linds was bad move. Why now? Why not two years ago? Both looked bored af. No happiness, no chemistry. Actually I thought he is smarter than that. Even Casey does it better. They filed the divorce and after half a year he went public with his new gf, who is very humble and nice lady. Summer moved on too, she has a new boyfriend. Gosh, Casey’s PR team are better than his…
The fact: Ben doesn’t care. He is in a „I don’t give a fuck” mode. He is probably drinking af, bangs a random chick, and there’s Lindsay his new LOVE (lol) who looks okay with hit. He looks like shit and nobody helps him. He has a lot of pressure from Warner, from Jen, from Linds and from the audience too. It’s not the early 00’s anymore. He has two Oscars, he is Hollywood ’s leading actor, he became big. Seems like he’s ready to ruin it. In this level he can’t make so unprofessional moves like he does recently.
He needs to get his shit together, his image is already fucked up, but there’s a way out, it seems he just can find the right way. Def like Charlie Sheen.
So knewing him the story will continue: he will go out with Lindsay, I’m ready for the JL premier and the news about him and her being so happy and engaged. Everything is so calculated here. And actually I wouldn’t give af who is with him when he is happy or at least looks not like a trainwreck.
This is the best analysis I have read so far on here. It is really all about Ben. Not about Jen and not about his kids.
@Nancy +1000 Incredibly well said!
I don’t think Casey’s necessarily doing it better. More like there’s just far less public interest in him. Most people don’t care what he’s up to. Can you imagine what would have happened if Ben was pictured making out with a new woman on the beach 6 months after the announcement and even before he filed? It would have been huge! Same with the sexual harrassment case, it would have been a scandal of massive proportions for Ben. For whatever reason, the public maintains an interest in Ben’s life.
@Ana & @Grapefruit: thanks a lot!
@Samantha: Casey protects himself very well. Yep, he isn’t a big name like Ben, but he didn’t sell his private life to the tabloids. He can be in the news all day, if he wants to, esp. after the Oscar hype. He doesn’t want it. There a lot of celebs in the tabloids regulary who aren’t so big like Ben. The problem is that Ben’s life is problematic af what makes the things around him huge. Bringing a new girlfriend in the picture is always a risk. Esp. when the most people still ships him with his (ex) wife. Ben and his team fucked up all things about this.
1. He had to wait at least 6 months after he (or Jen) filed.
2. The new woman has to be a positive character. As a person.
3. Their story (and her past) have to be clean.
I think if these 3 things come together, the shippers and his fanbase of course will be disappointed but peaceful.
What do we get instead?
A new woman with low standards (she is not likeable – yet), and a messy background story from both side.
I wonder what Ben is thinking now, bc his image was hurt – again. The fans are on fire, and I’m pretty sure it’s not about Jen, or the kids. They simply don’t like Lindsay, bc so many legit reasons. They literally will work hard to build up the image of this relationship. (“Marriage is wooork” – yeah, Ben, sure) Maybe people will forget how they started. But she will be always the woman who doesn’t fit him (and not because of her looks).
I wish him happiness all the time. But he is struggling. I just don’t understand his reasons and his motivations. He looks so sad. Def not in love.
The people still stupidly shipping him with Jen were never going to be “peaceful” about a new woman, what are you smoking. And PS: neither Jen nor Ben had a “clean” past when they got together. Not sure either one qualifies as having positive character either.
@A The Jen&Ben thing was 13 years ago. And no one cared about Jen’s past. The press also had nothing. She possible cheated but this story never came out. That’s what I’m talking about. Back then Ben handled those things like a pro. I think they had an on and off relationship since Pearl Harbor. (Seems like Ben is on and off with every woman. LoL ) I remember Garner came after JLo almost from nothing, she was the sweet next door girl character and the fans were obsessed with them and still are. That shows how smart they built up their relationship and then their marriage. But something went really wrong in Ben’s PR machine. First just gossip about his flings and addictions, than the nanny – a very big scandal. Since then… mess, mess, mess.
And Garner? She looks fine, she smiles, and since she married Ben no scandal around her. She is a positive character, a mother, an actress with ambitions. No one cares what happened 13 years ago. The start of their relationship was perfect. Thats the difference from Lindsay thing. They want to sell her story like :”from mistress to wife” or something like that? Lindsay is called still THE mistress in the press too. Which is not a good start.
Srly, the staged dinner photos from both in London and in LA was pathetic. Ben is smart. I really wonder he planned this whole story just like this. He knew that the press knows everything about his flings, and Lindsay. Maybe he tried to escape forward and he shared their dirty past as soon as possible? Before the JL premiere? (protecting his work as usual)
It seems to have been a mistake on Jen’s part to attack People magazine. They are clearly on TeamBen and continue to print that it’s a budding romance of 3 months.
Eh their original story was not pro Ben. His PR has probably applied the pressure to fix that.
Eh their original story was not pro Ben. His PR has probably applied the pressure to fix that.
That still makes them pro-Ben if they are changing stuff for him.
Morning necessarily. I understand it’s about leverage in the PR game. Bens PR represents some big names and can use those names to get printed whatever they want.
Which still makes them pro-Ben.
It is hilarious how Jen burned that bridge. I thought she was supposed to be this PR maverick? Such a dumb move and for what? A completely innocuous article that she’d probably pay them to print now.
DM has pics of Jen at church.
She looks good! No pics of the kids, though. (AT least not on DM)
Ugly sandals. I don’t think the kids are with her. Maybe Ben has them this weekend. Might also be why L went back to NYC on Friday.
Per x-17 Ben flew out on a private plane to the east coast Saturday morning.
I’m guessing she didn’t want to take them given what the paps would have been shouting to her today.
But x17 posted something about Ben taking a private jet to the east coast yesterday. (Given their story, it’s almost like a paid Jen Garner fan site.)
It’s possible that he returned to the UK to finish JL reshoots.
@Jojo those x17 photogs have camped outside both their houses for years. I would imagine they have seen enough of Bens behavior that they are sympathic to Jen. As an alcoholic, it would have likely been pretty ugly…
@Deb That is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.
@Chris haha ooookkkaaay. Diversity of thought is a good thing
@Deb – Sympathetic to Jen? Why? Because she knowingly stayed with and continued expanding the family with a man who was, by all accounts (even hers), absent most of the time, had severe addiction issues, a wandering eye and cheated on her time and time and time again? Oh yes, that’s right, I forgot – in spite of it all, she loved him for his big brain, commitment to work and dedication to charitable causes. Aw. So cute. I can see why they’d be sympathetic. I’m sorry, Deb – I truly don’t mean that towards you at all. You are entitled to your opinion, but honestly, at some point years ago, she became the other half of the problem.
@Nancy – Good point! Of course, x17 made a huge assumption that he was jetting off to NYC. It’s possible that’s true, but also possible he left for the UK again.
Where’s @jenfan when you need her? is weird she hasn’t posted about the latest news. Anyway she always has good and very actualized info, so @jenfan if you’re reading I was curious about Ben’s new home…I have a penchant for creeping into celebs homes and home decor…Is there a link to peek inside from the real estate listing before he leased the property ? I think I’ve read he’s renting, not buying… which could put into perspective his real future plans…
Sobbing into a tub of ice cream while posting nasty things about Ben and his new gf in the Daily Mail comments?
DM is saying Lindsay has moved in with Ben?
I do not blame her for not taking the kids to church. The paps are probably shouting at her and her children do not need to hear that.
DM got that wrong, as usual. They’re linking to the People story when they say that. The People story simply said that Lindsay was “staying with Ben” when she was in LA. Bit of an overreaction on DM’s part.
Frizzy-haired fraus in flyover states who live in stained clothing and ripped underwear will loathe Ben Affleck forever for leaving their idol, torn underwear queen Jennifer Garner. Lucky for him, they aren’t his target demographic so he won’t feel a thing. Trashy tabloid garbage stays trashy.
You don’t even have to like Jennifer Garner to hate on a douche like Ben Affleck though. Both he and his brother are such gross assholes. Somebody linked to a drunken interview he did with a female host and he was grabbing her boobs and using the word ‘retard’.
Yeah, it’s interesting in retrospect. That very old (2004) video suddenly resurfaced for some reason just a few days ago … right before Ben went public with Lindsay. Huh. Wonder if “someone’s” team had anything to do with it, although it didn’t seem to gain any real steam.
Any time Ben makes the news for being shady, people post evidence of his past indescretions. He is just so easy to dislike, especially since he has an equally gross brother. This site is the only place I have ever encountered Ben stans who go at great lengths to defend him.
At least we’ll now be spared of Jennifer’s doormat ways and the gushings of older ladies who thought she was so strong for fighting for her marriage.
DM has pics of Jen & her children at church now. I can only imagine how bad this hurts Jen for her children!
You really thought she’d hide her kids? She and her people contributed to the trashiness of the last 48 hours so she really has no one to blame but herself. She doesn’t care what the kids read or hear about their father.
Why would she hide the kids? They are free to roam around.
Read the posts above. Plenty of people thought that she’d hid the kids at home to avoid exposing them to the paps.
The hate on this thread for Jennifer Garner is unbelievable. I guess women are each other’s worst enemy. She took her children to church like she does every week. She went in by herself and then was photographed afterwards with the kids. I would guess the nanny brought them in. Their “present” father has recently moved into a new house which they are supposedly adjusting to but now he has a lady friend staying over. Nice. Does he visit them at their own house? Also, did he visit them before he flew out again? Nice. He is a top-notch guy. If I was Lindsay’s husband I wouldn’t want him near my child. But what do I know? Maybe he is at fault too. Poor Lindsay and Ben (true soul mates) being manipulated by mean Jen. And what is with the limos, car service lately? Did someone get their license suspended?? He was proudly driving a Bentley after they announced their divorce.
@bobbi And what of the woman who went out of her way to smear another woman in a tabloid? Jen obviously leaked the affair stuff. Her unstable self just couldn’t let it go.
@Bobbi – I generally agree that women tend to trash other women. I think on this site, it’s just that while women recognize Ben’s serious character flaws (an understatement? :)), they also cut through all of the “saint Jen” BS that you see on sites like the DM. On the DM, you see the same trashing, but in the reverse. Lots of rabid Jen fans – many of whom appear to be deeply religious – that have no problem hurling nasty insults at Lindsay – her looks, her character, etc. Also, I’m not sure what to make of your questions. “Does Ben visit his kids at their own house? Did he visit them before he flew out again?” Um, I’m guessing the answer is very likely yes. What would make you think otherwise? Do you have access to his whereabouts and schedule? Why would we have any knowledge of when he sees his kids? You saw that he was with them on July 4, right? And in the Bahamas before that? Well, he was already seeing Lindsay that whole time, and it didn’t affect his time with the kids. I realize you just found out and are upset, but I’m guessing that Jen (and possibly the kids) have already known about Lindsay for a while.
What’s funny is that those rabid Jen fans think that their opinions mean something, or will count towards anything. They are just anonymous crazies ranting on a website, nothing more.
@Matt=Sounds like a good description of you too.
I bet Kevin Smith is just laughing his a@s off seeing all of this drama play out! He always said Ben was more crude than him or something like that!
First I’d like to point out that Us weekly/x17’s claims about an affair could just be tabloid garbage per usual and not actually factual. People and enews are still going with the new relationship stuff. Second, if the affair is true then obviously Jen and her people leaked it. These are NOT the actions of a woman who has moved on. This is desperate “if I can’t have him, neither will you” stuff. That is not healthy. This is Betty Broderick insanity. Jen needs to let go and get her own life.
People and E! are legitimate news. NOT.
But us weekly and x17 are gospel? I don’t think so.
Did I say US Weekly and X17 are? LOL
Oh wow another Affleck stan – like he had nothing but everything to do with his own tabloid trash! His people obviously leaned on PEOPLE to re- publish his lies. Talk about media manipulation from the slave owning descendant himself! Put yourself in her position, your husband admitted an affair and your marriage broke up, then a couple of years later he came to a neighborhood party with her and was telling everybody “we’re taking it slow but its still a new thing”. Why should he be able to lie about that? The kids? I’m sure they already know why their parent’s marriage broke up -they’ve had to explain the scandal that was public already. HE obviously wasn’t thinking of his children when he skanked with yet another married woman. Of course if he was a woman everyone would be wondering what his mental problem is that he sees a married person and goes “got ta get it!” no matter who he hurts. Like anyone does that? A woman would be completely publicly humiliated for going after relationships with 3 married men and wouldn’t be able to keep a career , no matter how previously successful. And of course if he was a woman no one would say What a good parent – came in to see the kids a couple of days (while splitting the time with the lover) over the 4th then flew out again! I just can’t with you apologists (JOJO) of drunk philanderers who have to blame the woman because – well, she’s the woman, she’s held to a higher standard. Its just false equivalency.
Oh yeah and when you lie about your life you cant even keep what you are lying about straight – there was one of his people saying “they didn’t break up because of her, there isn’t one thing that causes a break up” not remembering that they weren’t supposed to be seeing each other for more than the last few months, much less than when Bennifer 2 broke up. Or maybe Ben proof-read the article and had them strike that out too?
You make him sound like that absolute worst. So how did Jen end up with him for 10 years?
If you google Ben or Jen, it shows that People does have articles on their website claiming that Ben started seeing Lindsay in 2013, although their latest article refers to it as a “budding romance”. It could just be a matter of semantics. Technically the “romance” is new, but they’ve been sleeping with each other for years.
And I’m sure both Ben and Jen’s camps are battling to control the narrative. *sigh* This is such a soap opera.
It looks like Ben left again on a big plane. NYC or UK? Didn’t he go to his place in Georgia when the nanny story broke 2 years ago? I don’t know what made me think of that but it does seem that he doesn’t stick around during these messes. He seems like such a weak man. Also, I noticed the car service too. He used to drive different cars all the time.
He was likely returning to England to finish Justice League reshoots. Unlike Jen, who has days, nights and weekends free to do pap strolls, Ben actually WORKS. Jen should try it sometime.
Wow!
Didn’t Ben actually say recently they swap out so one of them is home with the kids always? She clearly works, as well. But she is fortunate to be able to afford to spend the time with her kids too.
No, that was his excuse for never casting Jen in one of his movies. Ben works his ass off 24/7 to keep his kids in a $45 million home, with multiple posh vacation homes to choose from. Jen does nothing except pap strolls, manage nanny schedules and scheme with tabloids.
But when your ex is an alcoholic pill-popper who needs his own babysitter to watch over him, who takes care of the kids while you’re off filming? She was so dumb for having kids with that overgrown manchild.
The same people who have always taken care of the kids: the staff of nannies. This family can’t function without them. They can’t even take vacations without them.
But at least she’s still present when the nannies are around. Ben would probably leave them entirely in the care of the nannies and jet off to get sloppy drunk and bone a random.
Is she present though? Seemed to be absent when Christine O was “nannying” her family. lol
You’re right. And he banged the nanny. His kids are going to grow up resenting him. His oldest daughter probably already does. You can’t fool kids.
If Jen has anything to say about it, they will absolutely resent him. They will hate him. The girls will probably marry men just like him, and Sam will become him. Kids live what they learn at home.
@Neens Jen is present for pap stroll opportunities only. She leaves the hard stuff to the nannies. Too busy gym, church and coffee strolling otherwise.
This site’s the only place I have seen an overwhelming hate for Jen.
Jen is playing the game. Lindsay has been sleeping with Ben since 2013 so Jen is a woman scorned. I assume if Lindsay was hot Jen would be the old hag who can’t let go but Lindsay is not pretty at all in addition to that, she looks slightly older than Jen. The words I am seeing used to describe her looks are harsh but true. If she was the beautiful blonde in Miami they the description they gave was not accurate.
It does not matter if People or X17 are not reporting the affair, the news is out and the majority believe it. People mag does not have the prestige it once had and the internet has revolutionised how quickly people access information. Ben’s pr should not have placed so much emphasis on when the relationship started.
Jen is playing the game to the detriment of her kids’ lives. Kudos.
@vacationlady totally agree about his PR team really dropping the ball on emphasizing when the relationship started. Then they kept overdoing the defense with the “Lindsay is a wonderful person” messaging. Being overly defensive usually means there’s truth behind whatever it is you’re defending.
Pffft. If he and his team hadn’t defended her, you’d be claiming that he didn’t care about her or her reputation at all.
The reality is, as soon as Ben went public with Lindsay (or any woman), it was inevitable the tabs would go into overdrive to get the dirt and figure out every morsel of her personal life and when they met, etc. Whether or not Ben’s team mentioned when/how they met wouldn’t have mattered in the end. This would have come out.
“Ben’s pr should not have placed so much emphasis on when the relationship started.” Exactly. The moment they instructed the gossip site to write this precise information is when I started to think it was actually the opposite, that this affair is a longtime thing. Also because a movie star like Affleck with all the paps following him and tabloid attention around every detail of his life, wouldn’t go public with someone he’s been dating for just a couple of months. This is old, and that’s why he feels so comfortable exposing his new woman, almost rubbing her on our (and Garner’s) faces.
Jen has always had to put her career on hold because Ben would not hold up his end with the kids. Jen supported him and encouraged him to direct (Ben even said so himself. I think maybe IMO she realized she gave up her career and became ” Mrs Affleck.” By that time, Ben was running around on her
But Jen loves that $45 million home that she lives in and enjoys all of those vacation homes. How does she think that stuff gets paid for? Her credit card commercials? Ben had to work to keep them in that level of luxury. It was the least she could do to put forth some effort with the kids, not hire 10 nannies to do her work for her.
You mean she should work the way your Lucy does? Well, taking care of 3 kids is the most important work a parent, no matter what the sex, does. At least someone is raising them. She’s there like your Lucy is 100%. And don’t be cranky, you know you are still the only one Ben can be faithful to (shhh.. don’t tell Lindsey. Wait, she knows)
And Carol, that is Ben’s PR, they are now laying it on just as thick for Mr. and Mrs. Miller (who are also still married)
Always blame Garner ! Because Affleck is so weak.
Lucy who? Mr.and Mrs. Miller? What is this babble?
@matt =But I think you forgot that Jen is worth $40M to$60M herself.
@Ana lmao Did you just pull that number out of your ass? There’s no way she ever made even half that in her entire pathetic career.
Jen is worth maybe $10-15 million on her own. Alias was 15 years ago and it’s not like she was making Friends money there. Is that dreck even in syndication? If not for Ben and his money, there is no way that she would be able to afford their lifestyle, and certainly not their ~$50mil in property alone.
You can research them online.
Just a few days ago, they were saying you would be surprised how close Ben & Jen were.
They said he would come for breakfast and then take the kids to school. This was right before he went public with Lindsay….Interesting!
Well, US Mag now says Ben, Jen and the kids were at Brentwood Country Mart on Thursday before the Shookus news went public. She was apparently dropping the kids off to be with him. Interesting that no one published these pics or this story before now. The tabloids usually publish any and every story about this family, no matter how mundane.
That said, it just shows that Ben saw his kids again on Thursday, and he probably saw them Friday and Saturday before he left. Maybe. Maybe not. But clearly Jen was already aware this news was going public, and she was still dropping the kids off to be with him, and he was still spending time with his kids.
Funny how us weekly suddenly has all of this inside info that they’ve been sitting on instead of publishing.
Wow! I logged onto CB and this thread has ballooned lol!
I know – ha! I bet it makes CB’s list of top posts for 2017? 🙂
Wow is right… I don’t think there were this many comments after the official split and nanny scandal
US Weekly is now saying Jen &Ben met up separately on the afternoon of July 6th. Jen dropped off Sam & Violet with Ben. One of the kids was reading a book while he was on his phone
US Weekly confirmed on July 6th that Ben was in a relationship with Lindsay
yeah, I read the US weekly article and my theory that he’s a crap father stands. Sounds like he was completely distracted, couldn’t get off his phone (maybe getting grief from the girlfriend), wasn’t talking to the kids so his daughter decided to ignore him too and read.
You’re right. Any kid who reads a book in the presence of a parent is being subjected to bad parenting. Any parent who even glances at their phone in their kids’ presence is a negligent parent.
Are you okay?
@Lisa – Wow. You called me an Affleck apologist. I’m actually not. I see him for the passive aggressive coward that he’s been, but I’m also not going to make up completely irrational stories based on absolutely no facts at all. You’re saying although he was there to take his kids home with him, he’s a bad father because he was on his phone? And you also somehow know that it was his gf on the phone, and she was giving him grief? Yeah, I see the logic there.
Two things: USweekly is clearly tipped from Garner’s team. Then they run to Ben’s team for a comment so they can deny or confirm what the Garner team leaked. Then they have a story. The wording of the article make me think this: is basically a PR war, and has been for much of the time since 2015. Is clear to me that when they look to get along in public, is just a charade and they hate each other guts and just put a smile not even for the kids but for the paps.
The other thing is that Seraphina is probably the one kid who is having the hardest time adjusting to the divorce, and more specifically, to dad’s new girlfriend situation. Remember she and Ben were spotted several times spending alone quality time, and going to the therapist office, just the two of them. He would pick her from school and just spend time with her and take her to therapy. Now she’s missing from the kid-dropping when Ben has to pick them up to bring them to his new home, where now we know the new woman stays. Sera seems very attached to Affleck, not to mention the one who resembles her father the most.
That is interesting!
I wonder if DM or US Weekly will post any of these pics in the next couple of days?
I bet the paps will be circling Rockefeller Center building where Lindsay and her ex both work this week. lol
It may be interesting to see how quickly her divorce is finalized.
I bet she didn’t realize she signed up for all this!
A while back Jen was papped at a restaurant with editor of Vanity Fair magazine, Krista Smith . Ron Howard was also there.
Makes you wonder what that was about. I wonder if they were discussing Lindsay Shookus?
Call me crazy, but I somehow doubt Ron Howard cares about Ben and Jen’s divorce drama.
I know he does not care, either. I was just referencing him to the pic of Jen and Krista Smith DM posted to jog everyone’s mind. That is what made me remember the pic☺
far be it from me to judge, but if I knew my pic was going to be taken every time I stepped outside, I would DEF retain a stylist