In “what year is it?” news, Jennifer Garner is covering US Magazine. Remember that US has consistently covered her side at least since the 2015 nanny scandal (can we please go back to that year?), and that when People ran a cover story using old quotes from Garner, she called them on it. So this is PR and she’s using traditional media, as she’s done for years, to tell her side and to craft her imag. It’s not the worst idea, it’s a move we’ve seen from her countless times (and Ben does it all the time too) and it likely works with a certain demographic. US has two stories with insider quotes from this article so I’m combining them both in the excerpt below:
“Jen’s always been very optimistic and has a glass half full attitude even during the roughest of times,” a Garner insider says in the new issue of Us Weekly. But her joy is more noticeable of late, adds the source: “She’s very happy and in a good place…
“You rarely see her without a smile on her face,” says the insider…
“Her free time is really mom time,” says the insider. “She’s always taking the kids different places and looking for fun things to do with them…”
As for her hobbies, the actress, who counts Reese Witherspoon, Molly Sims and her trainer Simone De La Rue as friends, “does a lot of cooking and baking,” notes the source. “And she likes to work in her garden.” Unsurprisingly for the fit Alias alum, she also enjoys a little intensity. Says the source, “She’s all about sweating. She has a gym and she makes sure it gets used every day.”
[Things look superficially serene with Ben but] “It doesn’t mean there aren’t struggles behind the scenes,” a Garner source reveals exclusively in the new issue of Us Weekly. “Jen is on good terms with Ben for the most part, [but] they still have their frustrations. It’s a working progress and they’re still taking it one day at a time.”
Why Jen and Ben haven’t divorced yet
“The one thing she’s not flexible on is sobriety,” the source says of the Alias alum, 46. “Jen is hesitant to sign off until she’s certain that the kids will be in the best hands at all time. [sic] Finalizing the divorce has been a long process because of it.”That said, Garner and Affleck remain friends for the sake of their little ones. “They both want what’s best for the kids and have made a commitment to see that through,” the source tells Us.
[From two stories on US Weekly]
Garner is already using Instagram to showcase her bubbly personality and great life. She’s also done a bunch of recent interviews in which she shows how happy she is and how great things are. She didn’t need to spell it out, but she wants to be thorough, she’s blanketing the media so even the casual fan knows how awesome things are for her. Plus she worked in a little subtle hint that Ben is still drinking and she’s sick of it. I’m side eyeing this old media strategy, as someone who follows the gossip news slavishly it’s like she’s going backwards, but again it works with the people she’s trying to reach.
Jennifer Garner is happy! She’s living her best life! Her ex is still drinking, did you hear? That poor woman, always holding things together for her kids’ sake. Sharon we have to go see her new movie! We’ll get margaritas and make a night of it.
Alcoholism is a life long battle. What is she gonna do? How long is she gonna delay the divorce? Affleck has moved on. I find Garner a little pathetic
Can’t say I blame her if he wants access to the kids .. not sure how legal it is for a clause where if he falls off the wagon, no kids for 30 days to 6 months and he must be in rehab for that time.
Yes, that seems like a reasonable solution. It’s true she needs to accept she can’t fully control the situation, and they both need to be able to move on.
He can afford to move on because he’s likely not that involved with parenting. She however, as a caring parent would, wants to shield her kids from his behaviors. I wouldn’t budge either. There’s no way I’d want my kids around that and would definitely fight for some clauses to be added, no matter how long it takes. It’s not like she doesn’t have the money for attorneys, so why not.
As a mother who had the main responsibility of the children from their birth and with the knowledge of their father inability to be a responsible father, she has any reason to worry and to try to protect them. I think this situation is convenient for BA because he can see the kids when he wants and he is free to do what he wants. If he wanted to remarry and to continue his drinking drugging lifestyle he could gave her the legal sole custody of the kids which is the real situation for now. JG is happy because she is free from his cheating and his other problems, has her career, her kids, her friends, her sisters and parents and maybe a secret boyfriend. When she is wanting to marry again and if his sobriety problem is being continue, she can fight for sole custody at the court. Lindsay is a girlfriend or a mistress or a drinking buddy. If he was in a hurry to marry her he could do it years ago.
She’s promoting a movie and a new tv show I think, so it doesn’t seem unusual to see her in the media.
Can i just say I love what that guy is doing in the video to set her hair for the photo shoot? talk about professional gestures! I wish I had someone to fix my hair like that.
I had a stipulation in my custody agreement that my alcoholic ex-husband would have to attend therapy weekly and that if he had even one episode of backsliding, he’d go to supervised visits once a month. My son was only 4 when we divorced; I couldn’t take any risks with the drinking. I wouldn’t blame her for being frustrated with the situation, though I don’t get why she doesn’t just divorce him for good. I honestly don’t think the weird limbo helps the kids. You can be amicable Co-parents but actually divorced. There’s more clarity for the kids that no, Mommy and Daddy won’t be getting back together.
I agree with you with the limbo aspect of their situation.
If you imagine a room with a thousand kids from divorced parents you will have a thousand different responses and reactions.
I am a teacher and recently had a meeting with the mother of one of my students (age 12) who was doing very poorly in school, in terms of work but also behavior.
The mom explained that the change occurred the previous year and his grades dropped then as well.
When we asked her if anything had happened she said “nothing in particular”.
I asked her how long her and the kid’s father had been divorced (I knew they were) and she said “last year”.
She didn’t see a connection because she told us they co-parent extremely well and get along for their son.
This made me realize something about the whole “successful divorce” thing. It’s also extremely confusing for the kids. Even when you make it official. Of course, no one wishes the parents were at each other’s throats but the kids still see it as a possibility of a reconciliation.
Their whole world is shaken after a divorce.
It is very common nowadays but it still has an important impact on children. (Just want to make clear, I do NOT mean that in a “stay married for the kids” kind of way)
I will concede that, unlike a “reality” star, she has some talent and works hard, but the amount of press she gets is totally disproportionate to the amount of work she does, and its quality. If you arrived from another planet you would think from her press coverage that she was one of the greatest actors of her time and constantly releasing new work. Her PR people are very good.
Damn I love that lipstick she’s wearing.
I’ve always believed that Lindsay enables Ben’s drinking and Jen is aware of that. Maybe holding back on the divorce until he is sober is her way of trying to save him from really going too far off the rails.
Maybe Jen wants alcohol/drug related conditions in the divorce decree and Ben is fighting her on that. I doubt after three years the kids are confused about the situation, though — not having a final decree isn’t something an 8yo is going to notice.
My parents like to date the end of their marriage to the date of the court order but my siblings and I considered them divorced once they had made final housing decisions.
I’m excited for when my kids are older and we can go out and do stuff without worrying about diapers/snacks/carrying double strollers. It really does seem fun. I’m glad she’s not letting him depress her and that she’s still enjoying her children while they’re kids.
Because finalizing their divorce is going to….send him into a grief stricken spiral at the bottom of a bottle?
I can’t think of a single stretch of logic where this makes sense. Yea, I get the jab about him drinking and is is a nice foil to her gardening, baking wholesomeness, but in what world is refusing to move on making your children safer or their father more sober?
The petty bitch in me thinks she is just making sure that he can’t go legit with Shooks.
With all of the recent coverage about Lindsay staying with Ben for the summer and them in Puerto Rico together, this sort of looks like a somewhat-lame attempt to offer up a legit reason for why the divorce hasn’t moved forward – as Ben is clearly off living his own life. But you can still finalize a divorce with stipulations about sobriety in place.
That said, with US now owned by The National Enquirer, I’m not sure she’d use them like she used to? Most of the old reporters are gone. If she wants to give info. to a traditional media outlet, wouldn’t she choose a firmly fluffy and legit celeb-friendly like Entertainment Tonight (ET), which she’s done in the past. (Like weeks before they split in 2015, when ET was the only outlet to try to push the narrative that all of the split rumors were false, and they were looking forward to spending the summer together as a family … ha!)
I have to agree with you. I noticed that Krista Smith from Vanity Fair who did that infamous Vanity Fair interview has followed her recently on her Instagram. I would think that Krista would be the one to get an exclusive interview!
A new interview will be very interesting.
Ben is living his life but someone is looking after his children. Maybe he remembers his childhood with an alcoholic father and doesn’t want his kids to have similar traumatic experiences. The best present he could offer to his kids is to leave them live a good childhood and teen hood in a stable house far away for drugs and drinks. It’s possible his long term abuses caused him mental or other health problems and maybe he prefers to be a visitor dad. Even when they were married, JG has always the primary responsibility for them.
There’s no real reason why they should still be married … maybe Ben wants an excuse not to marry Lindsay and Jen is controlling so that works for her too.
Btw – Jen and Lindsay have very similar faces and body types. Casual observation.
I think Ben is probably struggling with his sobriety & Jen cannot sign for him to have joint custody even for their children. I think that this is the only road block in their divorce.
I think he is the one holding up their divorce because he is not proven to the courts he has been sober long enough.
Many entertainment news shows have now reported that the assets have been finalized & the custody is the only thing that has yet to be finalized.
Well…she’s trying it. The reality is though that her fans always seem far more interested in her personal life/mommy life than anything she does as an actress. She sells magazines, not movies. Which means we have lots more of this PR dance to look forward too. 🙄
Alcoholics and addicts can go years between relapses. It’s never going to be 100% in her control. She needs some checks and balances in the custody arrangement and then needs to move the f**k on. Yes it sucks he’s living with the woman (err, one of the women) he cheated on her with, but that’s where it is!
Agree. My guess is his sobriety will probably be spotty for the foreseeable future, if not longer. So, I guess she’ll be waiting a very long time. Doesn’t make a lot of sense.
The US article also says she doesn’t want the kids spending time with Lindsay because Ben had an affair with her. I get the emotion about it – but that also isn’t realistic.
For someone who always comes across like she’d sell a kidney for a magazine cover, she sure is good at the humble little ol’ me routine.
She should pull a Angelina and force him to get help in order to see the kids! Ben will never stop unless it is enforced.
Nothing wrong with wanting your kids to be with a sober dad! There’s many things you could nitpick about her but this isn’t one of them.
Jennifer looks great. Wish she would sign the papers and move on from him. Ben will always be Ben and will live his own life.
Damn. She looks AMAZING in that outfit she has on in all those pics. Her look always seems so effortless.