On Friday we reported on the photos that Ana de Armas had posted of a getaway she had with Ben Affleck for her 32nd birthday. A lot of you pointed out in the comments that they were in Joshua Tree in the desert California, which is about a two and a half hour drive from Los Angeles and has a very distinctive look. Hello! Magazine has a new story that sounds like they’re just looking at the photos and describing them. It’s possible that they have no insider information other than the slideshow Ana posted, but it’s still interesting to me. They write that Ben and Ana are renting a house, I would assume short-term for a week or so through Airbnb.
The takeaway is that they traveled during a pandemic (remember how they didn’t self isolate after traveling overseas and went shopping almost immediately afterwards?) and that they’re simultaneously avoiding the paparazzi while posting their own thirst photos. Also, I didn’t make much of it because I know how heated those discussions can get, but Ana wasn’t wearing a bra at all. It looked like more than a for-comfort situation. Here’s part of Hello’s writeup:
To celebrate their first photo together on the app, the couple gave fans a peek into the lavish home they are renting while enjoying a romantic desert retreat to celebrate Ana’s 32nd birthday – and all we can say is, what a view! The home appears to have wraparound decking which looks out onto the vast desert; all that can be seen for miles are boulders and plenty of open space, which makes it the perfect hideaway for a new couple.
Again, it’s not necessarily an entire home they’re renting, it could be an exclusive luxury resort. They still went on vacation during a pandemic.
My friend Z said that it’s quite interesting that Ben, who has repeatedly thrown Jennifer Lopez under the bus and claimed she was responsible for his career slump, is dating someone thirstier than J.Lo now. Ben was a willing participant in J.Lo’s PR games, he was in that video with her and he did multiple interviews with her. He did Gigli for God’s sake. It looks like history is repeating for him and he’s dating a women with a similar type of… ambition. Wait for him to turn around and blame her when he’s ready to discard her and/or things go poorly in his life or career. Will Jennifer Garner clean up for him after that too?
Photos via Instagram
So, does he see his kids? Like I’m speechless.
He was photographed with his eldest a few days ago.
I don’t think he was seen with his eldest few days ago. It was the previous week. He didn’t spend time with his kids last week
Quality over quantity?
I have to believe Ben only sees his kids when he’s sober and this many years later JG doesn’t expect much follow through by him. I have mad respect for the way she never disparages him in anyway in public because dealing with a self-centered, immature co-parent is hard!
He wasn’t with his kids when he was in Montana with the playboy model, or when he was in NY with Shookus, or when he was on the jet with the nanny. Thankfully so.
Anyone who heard that woe is me, I’m so sad I’m divorced, I just want to be there for my kids interview and believed it…
You are spot on. The optics of this public romance are horrible. Where are their publicists? Ben Affleck is a divorced father of 3. In the midst of a pandemic, he is all over the internet with his new love. In the meantime, his children are at home. (Less than a mile away). Both Ana and Ben (fairly or not) appear selfish and extremely self-absorbed.
I bet Jennifer Garner is counting the days until her kids are all 18+ and she can wash her hands of him.
@Also Ali this is such a good take. I think Jen is at the point where she puts up with a lot for her kids but also has set boundaries for them where Ben is concerned. I don’t think I would be too far off to say that he probably hasnt shown up when he is suppose to. I know this may not be a popular take but I wouldnt be surprised if they last a while due to how much Ana is in love with him and the attention he brings.
What the hell are they doing?
Wow, so in the midst of a crisis when people are being asked to move about as little as possible they decide to literally move and now he will have to travel at least 2.5 hours one way to see his kids?….as opposed to being just around the block? Wow…ok, then.
So I worded that so it’s more clear. I think this is like an Airbnb short term situation. Also as I wrote this could be Hello just making a photo assumption.
Ah. Fair enough. Although pandemic-vacationing is not exactly admirable either.
I suppose that’s one of the hazards of their current fame-whoring extravaganza: While you look with a more critical and clarifying eye, a lot of sites won’t! It’s ripe for a “Affleck abandons Kids!” tabloid headline. If I were either of their publicists….actually I probably would have quit by now! 😂
RE: Hello’s write up…
“which makes it the perfect hideaway for a new couple.”
a hideaway where they can show off how in love they are via thirsty look-at-me insta pics?
that’s some “hideaway”…
Even outside of a pandemic, I’d still be wondering what they were doing.
same!
I’m not going to shade you for mentioning that she is waving her boobs around. Because she totally is.
where is she ‘waving’ them around? i don’t see it. i just see her simply taking a selfie wherein she’s the closest to the camera. why is it okay for women to show their cleavage but when women go without a bra, they get scrutinized? it seems overly judgmental.
She’s wearing a see-through top. You can clearly see her areola. I’m almost surprised that Instagram didn’t take it down.
I am NOT judging her because I hate the double standard regarding male and female nipples, but she definitely wanted people to see her breasts.
Brinibini, regarding the double standard you mention…
I’m actually not surprised that insta didn’t remove it. she’s a thin white woman. you think if Lizzo posted a similar shot, with a see-through top and her nipple showing, that insta would let that fly? Imma say no.
It’s definitely A Choice. She wanted these pics to be seen and talked about. It’s her right to use her body this way, but it’s also a definite choice.
Agreed. She can go braless, no one cares. I think what people are picking up on is the overall sense that it’s intentional; an effort to maximize her ‘appeal’.
I thought the same thing. I have no strong feelings about people wearing bras or not, but it does seem that she wants her nipples to be a big part of her pics. A thirsty girl needs a drink sometimes (but in her case, nothing’s going to quench that thirst).
Yep! It’s OK to call a spade a spade. A narcissist a narcissist. An exhibitionist an exhibitionist. Take the entirety of the person and their other behavior into account, it’s never just about the nipples! It’s such a great point too, that Ben is repeating his J-lo dynamic. At least j-lo was a superstar & not as cringey as this girl. Also he’s much older now so the cringe-fest is even worse.
Yup. We have the ability to discern. It’s the conditioned mind that automatically reacts and assumes everything is sexist.
Nips to detract from wonky forehead.
Ana’s forehead, especially above her right eyebrow looks odd, perhaps too much Botox.
Weird vibes is all i get from this desert Benana birthday. I wonder if they played pin the tail on the donkey too.
Its funny you mention JLo as AdA is using the same glow- filter JLo/ARod used in their engagement photos. Most obvious in the 2nd picture of just her.
To all her fans who said she was fantastic in Knives Out, all I saw was trembling lips and tears. Not impressed by her acting, and her thirst will not be quenched. They both need to grow up.
People always blame the woman for the paparazzi attention – Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Garner, and now Ana. Ben’s the common denominator there, and always in the midst of a comeback and rebuilding his career.
(Not to say Ana isn’t thirsty as hell here, my God the 2 of them are embarrassing!)
How are we going to name them? The thirstiest ? Anafleck?
It’s BenAna… like banana…..
I believe they have been christened “Benana”.
I’ve take to Afflarmas (TM Kaiser) because it sounds like a skin condition where your skin becomes really itchy and flares up when you’re thirsty.
“Afflarmas”? Stay hydrated.”
I really liked her until all this. She has so much talent and buzz around she hardly needs to be doing this.
I was thinking the same thing. Who is giving this girl career advice? This is the DUMBEST thing she could be doing. Yeah ok you want to date Ben…fine…but don’t post pics about it. It ain’t helping her career at all. This is making people not like her…especially when these two morons don’t seem to understand how to quarantine.
She is already lost thought in a see of good talent rising up. She is OK and this bad move isn’t going to work out for her. She is going to “j lo’ed”.
I thought she was incredible in Knives Out, totally snubbed of an Oscar and I was excited about her career. Now I look at her and it’s like… wtf are you doing.
Dating Ben Affleck was already eeeeh… but whatever, date whoever you want. Having every stroll they take papped, tacky af, but well it’s Hollywood. And now you’re doing all that in the middle of a pandemic when everyone is in lockdown? Bitch really?
Now I can’t even take her seriously as an actress, no matter how well she acts, I’ll always see her face as that moron that was getting papped cuddling and giggling outside every god damn day while no one was leaving their house.
Totally agree. I thought she was snubbed too and was rooting for her with Blonde this year.
But all this is so tacky I’m totally put off. I don’t know how she’ll get out of this from a PR pov. Even if it ends soon, she’ll be Affleck’s ex for years to come. Ben’s been in the game long enough to know how to hide relationships, but both seemingly love the limelight. Shame.
Yep. I saw Knives Out and I thought… can’t wait to see what she does next, it will probably be worth checking out.
And then … this. Affleck was skeevy and jerky enough all on his own. I was already having a hard time watching him act in anything because of his public behavior over the last few years. It’s like watching Tom Cruise in anything… all I see is his obnoxious self-involved idiocy.
It’s not that this PR / PDA performance has simply reduced my interest in her next project. It has made me actively DISinterested in it, like I will probably actively avoid it or if I happen across her in something, I will immediately think ” Her? Oh, that’s the Affleck-Pandemic PDA twit. What a loser.” and change the channel.
Soooo. Somebody took that sunset pic of them gazing off the deck of that place into the vista. Do these people travel with a photographer? Vacationing with friends? Which is another point against them during Stay at Home orders, but that ship sailed so long ago it’s probably nearing Fiji at this point.
It was taken with a timer. You can still see the ledge or table the camera is on
These two are too much. I still don’t really buy that it’s all genuine, it’s felt forced to me since the Hiddleswift esk papped beach walk.
Poor Ben, he really needs attention, and he is not even a teenager.
LOL, she made sure that nipple and aureola through that transparent fabric was right front and center, didn’t she? God, they’re so thirsty.
It’s probably for the best, but like – his kids, right? They exist? I know Jen’s always been the only adult in the house, but what a f*cking joke. And de Armas thinks this is a catch.
I honestly don’t understand her appeal. I thought she was just okay in Knives Out. I looked up her filmography and it turns out she played prominent roles in several films I’ve seen (Blade Runner and Knock Knock for example) and I didn’t find her performances to be memorable at all. I mean, I recall the characters she played but after she “broke out” and her past work gets mentioned in articles I keep thinking “that was her?”
She was good in Knives Out but way too overhyped cause she’s pretty. She could have used that overhype to her advantage but no she decided to get Afflecked instead (not really surprised though cause she has always been cheap and desperate for attention)
Didn’t this site love her before she started dating him? Never liked either one of them.
Boring. Also canceled for being spoiled rich pricks during a pandemic.
I bet they were staying in Palm Springs & went to Joshua Tree Natl Park (which is about 45 minutes away). Again, who is vacationing in this pandemic? What a couple of clueless narcissists.
If they’re happy then whatever… I don’t mind Ben Affleck. I was going through a whole Kevin Smith period a few weeks ago. He’s also really funny in the movie Extract (Mike Judge film w/ Jason Bateman & Mila Kunis) – Working at the bar at the Marriott Hotel heh heh
It’s better for Garner to really forget about Ben in the sense of moving on. He’s had quite a few girlfriends after their split …he isn’t looking back it’s obvious. To be fair to Ana any pap shots are just as bad as the constant co-parenting pap shots. I feel bad for the kids always being papped. Each parent can use their own special time without this nonsense. Ana and Ben do not bother me…they seem to bring out some good in each other. But of course do not repeat JLo’s mistakes.
Hmmm. It’s amazing how people can run you the wrong way. Ana’s appearance and vibe are typically something I would enjoy. When she first started her thirst posting I only pitied her youthful misunderstanding of what a shitbag her boyfriend is. After a few weeks I just dislike her. Just goes to show first impressions can be wrong.