As I mentioned yesterday, I think that Jennifer Garner’s new boyfriend, John Miller, was prepared in theory to go public. He had to know that his identity would be revealed and that the press would quickly find publicly available information about him, like this YouTube video where he’s describing his company’s use of facial recognition technology. Did he know that the press would find his divorce filing though? He has a law degree from Stanford so he must have had an idea that would happen. Like just about everyone’s divorce filing, the details aren’t that flattering to him. His ex’s 2014 divorce declaration stated that he “feels satisfaction from controlling me and making me pay the price for ending the marriage.” Yikes.
Miller, 40, and Campbell, 38, married in April 2005. He filed for divorce from the violinist in June 2011, but they reconciled the following February. The pair filed divorce papers again in October 2014.
According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Miller and Campbell reached an agreement in October 2016 that they would share joint legal custody of their two children: a 12-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter. The musician — who has performed duets with artists including Andrea Bocelli, Sting, Michael Bublé and Chris Botti —also requested to continue to receive benefits from the businessman’s CaliBurger employee health plan.
Campbell said in a September 2016 declaration that she and Miller have “major differences in our personalities, communication styles and approaches toward conflict resolution.”
She continued, “John was the national debate top prizewinner in college and graduated in the top 10 percent of his Stanford Law School class in 2003. He thrives on fast paces, vigorous argument and competition. In contrast, I am a freelance musician and am verse to conflict. I rely on emotional connections and avoid verbal confrontations. Because of these differences, resolving conflicts in a fair and amicable way has been challenging at best.”
Campbell further claimed that Miller “is accustomed to being the CEO of companies he starts” and therefore “feels satisfaction from controlling me and making me pay the price for ending the marriage.”
The estranged couple reached an agreement in their divorce on Monday, October 22. They are now waiting for a judge to sign off on the paperwork to finalize the case.
Miller’s ex is a concert violinist and is somewhat of a public figure, but on a much different level than Garner of course. She and her boyfriend are conventionally attractive people who occasionally attend red carpets together and post to Instagram about it. She also does interviews about her music career. Can you imagine how annoying it must be to her that the details of her divorce are being discussed in US Magazine? It was pretty easy to find her Instagram and her boyfriend’s Instagram given the fact that US printed their full names. (I’m not including those, it feels icky even though I looked of course and their Instagrams are public.) I just still question how much of this we need to know. I also wonder if Jen considered keeping this new relationship quiet for longer instead of going the usual route of blanketing the gossip press. I bet she thinks she’s being reserved by waiting six months. Also, note that Miller just reached an agreement in his divorce. The timing of this rollout was right after that.
People Magazine has new quotes too, all about how Garner is ready to move on.
“Although the divorce was just finalized, Jen has considered herself single for a long time. Dating is just a natural step,” the source says. “Jen will always care about Ben and help him be the best dad. She was very ready to move on though. She seems very excited about the future and is in a great place both personally and professionally.”
“The divorce was just finalized.” We’ve heard that for over a month. Just saying that TMZ or another outlet would have picked it up if it was official.
These are new photos of Jennifer Garner out in New York, where she’s doing promotional duties. How convenient that she’s on the current cover of US too. Credit: Backgrid
Well, I can believe what the now ex-wife spelled out in the divorce papers. Personality differences can be problematic, plus you have a wealthy youngish executive mentality.
I feel like Jennifer never lets go of the PR machine controls. Ever. Has she ever just held back for even a month on pap strolls and personal life updates?
Weren’t those personality differences apparent to both parties before marriage?
Second graf, same. She is relentless.
Perhaps they were rarely in conflict before they got married and had kids so their different styles of dealing with that were less of am issue?
My husband and I are opposites on this front. I’m extremely direct and feel energised by clearing the air, he finds conflict horrific. We’ve just learnt to muddle through that.
One would think the argumentative, lack of compromise (attributed to his debating days) would have been evident. Maybe he turned on the charm in the early days? Or perhaps his ego increased over time, as he became more successful.
To be fair, people change as they get older/more successful. My husband and I have been together since we were ‘kids’ (22) and he is now a highly successful academic/economist 11 years later. On paper, far more successful than me. He spends all day with people telling him how brilliant he is, asking to collaborate with him, offering him lots of $. This 100% bleeds into our private life, when on occasion he thinks his time or his opinion is more important than mine, because that is his normal 80+ hours a week – there is a lot of ‘umm honey calm yourself you’re not that important’ that goes on. (To be fair to him he is kind and patient and loving so don’t feel bad for me!) My point is, success and age changes peoples attitudes and behaviours and if you can’t communicate then I can see how shit falls apart.
Having said that, this is a divorce filing – one sided and intended to disparage, as with most divorce filings, so I’m taking it with a huge grain of the salt.
To be fair, people change as they get older/more successful. My husband and I have been together since we were grad students (23) and he is now a highly successful academic/consultant at 33. On paper, far more successful than me. He spends all day with people telling him how brilliant he is and asking to collaborate with him etc. This 100% bleeds into our private life, when on occasion he thinks his time or his opinion is more important than mine, because that is his normal 80+ hours a week – there is a lot of ‘umm honey calm yourself you’re not that important’ that goes on. (To be fair to him he is kind and patient and loving so don’t feel bad for me!) My point is, success and age changed peoples attitudes and behaviours and if you can’t communicate then I can see how shit falls apart.
Having said that, this is a divorce filing – one sided and intended to disparage, as with most divorce filings, so I’m taking it with a huge grain of the salt.
Yeah, thanks for all of the comments above…I thought about that before I posted but wanted to open the discussion maybe because of that. Did success go to his head, or was the type to succeed because of his head? Was she attracted to him because of the very qualities that made him, for her, a difficult partner? Was he impatient with *her* style, which to him might have seemed meandering and indirect? Do modern divorce filings need to have all this discussion? If people are incompatible, can’t they just say so and leave it at that?
WATP, all good questions, both your initial one and your follow up. From my experience, love can color your POV for sure. Bring kids and other things that can change a marriage, from health issues to drama with in-laws, into the mix and qualities that seemed reasonable or manageable suddenly take on a whole new weight.
As for divorce filings containing so much info, I’m with you. It seems like a lot of detail.
Feels like she stopped wanting to grapple, and he sounds exhausting.
There wouln’t be such a high divorce rate in the western world if differnces are “apperent” right away
“He thrives on fast paces, vigorous argument and competition. In contrast, I am a freelance musician and am verse to conflict. I rely on emotional connections and avoid verbal confrontations. Because of these differences, resolving conflicts in a fair and amicable way has been challenging at best.”
I could have written her statement myself 20 years ago.
His ex-wife is stunning, first of all. Second, she is an artist. They are very creative people and sometimes, they have a different kind of approach in life. Maybe she is not type A. Him, he is more like a type A kind of man. But along the way, they could have blend those 2 kind of personalities. Two smart and beautiful people. Too bad.
For Jen, she should concentrate on her tanking movie/tv career. Stop all this rolling out stories of her love life. Does she need to announce her new relationship? Very tacky!
So she finally wears a warm toned sweater that looks gorgeous with her skin and hair tones….and promptly throws a clashing white scarf over it next to her face.
New boyfriend sounds like another Type A.
And the shoes and socks! I appreciate any MJ hommage but ffs!
Glad I’m not the only one who thinks about the little things. : )
Ha, I was nodding along as I scrolled down her outfit, thinking she looked pretty cute even with the white scarf…but then the shoes were like a very loud needle scratch to me. She almost always gets the shoes so wrong. I say almost because I love the ones she’s earring with the dress/coat.
Yeah….Garner should trust those divorce papers and bolt while she has the chance. The fact that this man comes off as vindictive is not a good characteristic. Some of the others, like not being able to find common ground, enjoying the CEO type role, those aren’t bad…but controlling and vindictive are two BIG red flags.
yyyyeah I agree. being in a relationship with someone who needs to always “win” every argument means you will both lose in the end.
Maybe she’s confused dressing conservatively with dressing poorly?
Full disclosure. I am currently dressed badly. Very badly. So yes it can happen to anyone I understand this lol
It’s something about her jeans here. Maybe if they were boot cut? Or rolled once with flats but no socks?
For someone who could rent a personal shopper or stylist, she has very poor style. I don’t get it!
We’ll see if he’s here for the church pics, farmer’s market strolls, school run, etc…
IMO her need to control a narrative and his personality per the divorce papers is not a good combo
This should be interesting! Personally, I don’t know why JG ever dropped Vartan for Affleck. Vartan is hot AF.
In the early 00s Ben was a huge movie star earning tens of millions of dollars per film. Vartan has never been anything but a tv actor. She traded up.
Status; Ben had more status. He has Oscars, bigger bucks, and enjoys better status. With Vartan, Jen didn’t get invites to Oscar ceremonies, other award shows, and during her marriage she was seen around all the bigger names. If she had married Vartan and divorced Vartan, she wouldn’t have gotten such a huge settlement or all that vast amount of press. Jen is just like the other goldiggers in Hollywood and no better or different (as much as she likes to market herself).
Is the real Vartan currently available? If so, Jen go for the real Vartan and not this type A facial scanning creepy doppelganger!
I think MV had a brief marriage and quietly split up a couple of years ago. He seems like a private guy, so he may not want to join her neverending publicity parade.
She is so overexposed that it’s little surprise her recent projects aren’t topping the charts.
Anyone is probably better than Affleck at this point, even if they are a Type-A debater who probably didn’t like his wife ending the marriage (that’s really all I got from that divorce filing.).
Arguing with a lawyer is probably easier for Garner than arguing with Affleck about his sobriety.
Well
Is she getting fillers now? Botox?
Something. I thought she was Mandy Moore in the thumbnail.
she looks slightly …fuller in the face. Could be I’m just used to her being photographed with no make up on but I’m leaning towards that she is starting to mess with injections.
It never looks good
The new jerk boyfriend sounds like Jen herself: controlling, vindictive. She’s been “making Ben pay” for leaving her for the last 3 years-plus. I doubt the new guy thought that someone would hunt down his divorce papers. He might have a law degree but that doesn’t mean that he’s well-versed in tabloid shenanigans. Speaking of divorce, Jen’s people seem desperate to make it clear that hers is finalized, even though the judge hasn’t signed off. Everyone in this saga is still legally married. Her team probably leaked this “casual relationship” to gauge the reaction and if it’s not what she wants, we’ll never see him (or them together).
She hasn’t made Ben pay. He’s sabotaged himself. I doubt she wanted the story about the nanny to come out. Clearly, it doesn’t hurt for SOMEONE in that relationship to be controlling.
She’s either Amazing Amy and making Ben pay, or she isn’t. It can’t be both. Ben has been trying to get out of his marriage for years using humiliation tactics but she’s been clinging.
I don’t really ascribe any kind of archetype to her. I think she’s simply a woman who has to deal with a very difficult alcoholic man because he’s the father of her children. I’m sure she has her flaws (like picking really bad movies to star in), but dealing with someone like Affleck would give me a nervous breakdown. He himself seems a little indecisive who likes to blame his problems on either the media or the women in his life.
I’m sure he has the best lawyers. If he wanted to make this divorce happen sooner I think he could have. Why he isn’t capable of being direct if he really wanted out, I don’t understand. You know how to direct Argo and win an Oscar but you don’t know how to tell your wife that you’re going to go all out with the lawyers? — no, that doesn’t add up.
My god she needs a stylist
She has not one but two stylists. They cash checks from her and howl with laughter.
I’m howling with laughter! Thank you for this comment.
I don’t actually believe this relationship is real at all. She was looking mighty pathetic lately regarding her perpetual obsession with Ben, so her team leaked this non-information. Naturally there are no pics so she can deny it all later. She’s psycho, I would put nothing past her. Her team kept trying the Brad Pitt angle until his rep put out a firm statement. Simply put, I will never believe that she’s over Ben and isn’t waiting around for him.
I don’t believe it, either. I think she was smarting after the Playboy model and Montana stuff and people were starting to get loud about the fact that she hadn’t moved on, 3 years later. There still is no proof that she has. As you said, there are NO pics. It’s not because she’s “private” either, because that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Her team wants people to believe certain things (that she’s moved on, that the divorce is final) but actually… no.
Brilliant thinking… this could be fake!!!
She cannot dress, and it’s hilarious to me. It’s like she hired my dad to be her personal stylist.
LMAO. Harsh but her personal style has always been like this. I remember seeing pap shots during her Alias days and marveling at how bad her jeans were, compared to how kick ass she dressed on the show. She really hasn’t evolved. if she comfortable, more power to her, I guess.
Your Dad could make some easy money with her.
I scrolled back to look at the jeans photo. Looks like the socks and the scarf have the same white color and pattern. I guess that’s the only thing coordinated here.
That is a funny thought. Put my Dad in there and she would be dressed even worse 🙂
I am sick of Ben and Jen. Enough.
What a bad combination. A Stanford Law debater and a concert violinist who wants to resolve things emotionally? Yikes. Being able to successfully resolve conflict is a cornerstone of marriage. That isn’t to say that it’s impossible that two such opposites could work, but it would take a ton of compromise.
At this stage in the game…AIN’T NO WAY…I’ll be honest…meeting someone and knowing that they’re pushing the tech envelope to build and deploy facial recognition technology…would PROBABLY turn me off….seriously…
But…I want better for Jennifer…and I do NOT WANT TO BE PETTY…LAWD KNOWS I DO NOT…
But….
Her…
Clothes………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
I guess the issue is that did Jen know or realize how Caroline describes John? (” feels satifaction from controlling me and making me pay the price for ending the marriage.”)
IMO, i do not think that Jen was going to go public just yet but i suspect that there were pics out there ( just like there were with Ben & Lindsay in London) & her team had to make that relationship public to get ahead of the story. Plus i found it interesting that John & Caroline did not have an agreement for 4 years & now suddenly on Oct. 22nd, there is an agreement that just needs signed off on?
I
N wonder she received those $20M funds for her Once a Farm business! She was always in San Francisco/Bay Area.
So she’s aiming now to make a power couple with this CEO friend in the food industry, is that it? They both sound like users, perfect match.
If she is into over-controlling ,vindictive, always-needs -to-win type of guy, then this might last a while. She obviously has very high tolerance for putting up with a crappy man. Also,it’s rare for People in his age group to change.
I highly doubt there are any pics that Jen is trying to “get out in front of.” If the tabloids had pics, they would have run them. This story is days old at this point. No, Jen’s PR team put this out there because her acting career comeback has flopped, the martyr act is old and this is all she has left at this point. I doubt that it’s even true.
You know, I am fed up with her BS about how she is supposedly having it so hard. She held on to that jerk for a long time and she isn’t some ingenue who got in over her head. She is just as much about status and money as anyone is, she’s just better at being a complete hypocrite at hiding it and she knows it. At least no one is fooled by it.
She is in the habit of hooking up with men who are already taken while being already taken herself, and then strategically divorce just at the right time. Just saying.
Well to be fair both parties have been separated for 3+ years. However as she didn’t learn from J.Lo’s lesson that Ben is a cheater, she’s choosing not to learn from the new guy’s wife that he is controlling. I guess she will wait for 10 years before coming to that conclusion! The irony of Ms. Private getting with Mr Facial Recongition is hilarious.
Here we go again, the classic ‘With me he will be different’ or that’s what she wants us to think.
Haven’t any of you been divorced or known anyone who was divorced? Take everything the former spouse says with a big ol’ Grain of salt. Rarely do people describe their exes in glowing terms – that’s why they are an ex. I guarantee my ex’s new wife describes him much differently than I do.
What?? “and am verse to conflict.”????