The tabloids, particularly The National Enquirer and Radar Online, among others, were correct about the problems in Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s marriage. Affleck and Garner have announced that they are divorcing after 10 years of marriage. Yesterday was their tenth anniversary and it’s unclear if they have officially filed for divorce, but they have given an exclusive statement to People about their split. Their announcement didn’t use the term “mutual,” but said that they will “go forward with love and friendship” and a “commitment to co-parenting.”
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have split, PEOPLE confirms.
The couple were married for 10 years, having marked their anniversary on Monday.
“After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce,” the couple tells PEOPLE in a joint statement. “We go forward with love and friendship for one another and a commitment to co-parenting our children whose privacy we ask to be respected during this difficult time. This will be our only comment on this private, family matter. Thank you for understanding.”
Garner, 42, and Affleck, 43, intend to seek mediation, says a source close to the couple.
The two are parents to three kids: Violet, 9, Seraphina, 6, and Samuel, 3.
This was expected, and honestly I kept checking People Magazine on Friday because I thought People would get the exclusive. Instead they had a brief story about Garner visiting a children’s hospital. I do think that they may have wanted to announce Friday but that they took the weekend and talked it out more before making the announcement. It’s possible that Garner put her foot down and made Ben wait to file until their 10 year anniversary had passed and she had more community properly rights. We’ve heard that Ben wanted to make the announcement prior to their anniversary.
Both Garner and Affleck have mentioned that marriage is work and Affleck seemed particularly unhappy lately. This is sad for their kids, and I hope that they’re able to divorce somewhat amicably and reduce their kids’ exposure to the press. I think we’ll be hearing more in the days and weeks to come about what really happened.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I’m so excited! THINK OF THE GOSSIP WELL GET! PRAISE THE GOSSIP FACED GOD!
You are unhinged, but hilarious.
Why, thank you 🙂
I was on the floor at ‘gossip faced god.’ Immediately thought of Arya Stark. Hahaha.
Does anyone recall Jennifer’s appearance about 8-9 mos ago on an early morning show, hyping something..and she broke down in tears – she said it was about her mom and sisters and missing them or whatever…but I always thought it was something more. I bet that was when they decided to split. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3000701/There-s-like-sharing-spotlight-Jennifer-Garner-breaks-tears-talking-mother-sisters.html
Also, I think Ben led her on, that things were fine just to get another baby (boy) out of her. He probably desperately wanted a son, and doesn’t seem the type to knock up some 20something model and do the whole half Sib thing..probably wants his kids to be whole siblings with one mom. Very calculated. Not unlike the slave ancestor deal. Lol
Well I’ll be..
@Derit, that Today moment was just painful to watch. I suspect that Garner has been trying to keep him from going off the rails for years and has finally reached the point of no return. I can’t imagine how exhausting that is. His history has always been troubled!
Everyone forgets he went to rehab between dating Gwyneth and J. Lo for his drinking and gambling and yet, he still does both today. Back then, Gwyneth suggested he didn’t need “a girlfriend, he needed to be with a Scores stripper”! Can you imagine someone with a similar background (Robert Downey Jr.?) getting away with still drinking and gambling? I can’t.
I remember when he and J. Lo got together, sources told UsWeekly they thought she would be a good influence because she didn’t drink. Then, their wedding was called off after a stripper went to the tabloids about his alleged encounter with her.
Since his marriage, there were numerous reports of affairs with costars (like Blake Lively wayyyy back in 2007, I think?) and other, plus gambling (a book about Hollywood’s under-the-table gambling rings named him as a successful participant).
I don’t think he can change and that Jen has probably spent a decade of her life trying to keep him clean that she could have spent much more enjoyably as a divorced co-parent. I’m sure she loves her kids, but ugh, that has to be just miserable. No one who has a choice should put up with those kinds of behaviors.
Gossip that had already been out there. Only thing new would be if she herself had a side piece.
On Dailymail the rumor is Emily Ratajkowski.
He’s a workaholic and that can spell the death of a marriage. As well, boredom had set in, definitely for him and possibly for her. It didn’t help that Jennifer looked like a frumpy house frau in her grey clothes most of the time. That’s harsh but maybe (or not), it played a role in the split. The marriage had a fairly long run in Hollywood terms, not exactly a failure. The kids will be fine after a period of adjustment. They’re probably used to him not being around half the time, anyway.
She never looked ‘frumpy’ , wtf? She looked like a mom of 3. How dare she not glam up every day to stop her husband having an affair…
Sabrine- I don’t think it’s her flat shoes or boyfriend jeans while she cared your his three kids that caused him to step out. Your logic belongs in 1950……and it sucked then too!
According to Lainey her clue is “wonder” which suggests to me Gal Gadot
What does that mean?
Or “wonder”as in To The Wonder and Olga Kurylenko, whom Lainey blinded was having a fling with Ben way back in early 2011 (check out her archives for ‘a riddle for your troubles’). Supposedly Garner almost left him back then, and Ben had to call in a lot of industry favors to buy off Olga’s silence.
Gal Gadot is an interesting idea but I believe is married with a young child (?) and didn’t work very long with Ben on the Batman film.
Him cheating isn’t news. Her cheating would be. So if Emily Ratajkowski is GARNER’S side piece then I say bravo. That is what I meant in reply to TWINK thinking about all the gossip.
I guffawed at the Gossip Faced God LOL, I needed that one
I don’t think the lack of fixing herself up was the reason for the split – it was more the lack of input from Affleck and then it snowballed. He wasn’t putting much into the marriage and was away from home too much. She was busy with the kids and her own projects (she’s filming in Montreal right now). Apathy and boredom with each other set in and that spelled death for the marriage.
+1 on apathy and boredom being the kiss of death for this marriage. I seriously cannot wait to see who shes gonna date. Although it will probably be some boring ass investor or something. Gah.
I think it’s sad. Gossip-faced God not withstanding.
But I’m hoping for a Bennifer Redux (Ben + JLo) otherwise know as Bennifer Retro or Bennifer 3.0: The Renaissance? (Or Bennaissaince?)
Benaissance is everything. I hate and love the idea at the same time.
Yes a single Ben out from under Jen g’s supervision will be great for gossip. Also wondering what kind of games Jen will play because she’s got all the power in this sitch.
A girl will pray to the gossip faced God that he reunites with JLo.
😂
i’ve been waiting for the announcement. this is going to be good gossip!!!
I’m kinda surprised it’s actually true! Part of me thought it was just wishful thinking on the part of the tabloids…….can’t believe they were actually right!!!
This will be good gossip……..even better will be who Ben Affleck rebounds with!
Ben and Jen are divorcing. WTF said no one.
Watch out, Casper Smart.
Emily Ratajkowski will make a comeback I suspect
Hopeful optimist…..I kinda thought they’d prove those tabloids wrong and just stick it out for more time.
Someone explain to me how they actually know. Is it the PR people of the couple dropping hints? Is it because paparazzi are giving them tips that someone in the couple has stepped out? I’m always curious how they actually know this stuff!
When I heard about the moving van in front of their house, I knew it was a bad sign, moving vans are a sure sign of divorce.
It was only a matter of time really and Celebitchy has been on it for a while. I just can’t believe they had another kid when there were clearly problems going on with the marriage even then. I thought we kind of moved passed that baby band aid thing in society.
Somewhere in the world J. Lo is bathing in chicken blood and placenta chuckling.
You win for that image, mostly because with JLo it could very well be true.
I’m glad for Jen. And for the kids. It’s not healthy to grow up in a passive-aggressive home.
That is kind of my reaction too. She may not know it right now but I think she will be happier when she comes out on the other side of this.
Same. I imagine she’ll move on and find happiness, whether it’s on her own or with another man. I don’t know if I can say the same for Ben. He seems like a “grass is always greener” type; perpetually unhappy and unsettled.
+ 1 Tate & Kristen. “Perpetually unhappy” indeed. She’s just lost about 200 lbs. of sulk and drama.
If it was not mutual as the statement does not indicate, then maybe Jen had no say in the matter.
Best of luck to all parties going forward either way.
I tend to think she was the one who asked for it, but waited the 10-year-mark. She seemed calm and happy int he last pap walks. He looked miserable.
ps: Stay strong, Sera (and siblings)!
We’ll, if it was Jen that made him wait to 10 yrs, she must have more game than we thought. Bet she has so much dirt on him!!
No doubt. She’s been carrying his dead weight for too long now.
Yep
Not only a passive-aggressive home, but one with an active alcoholic. Yikes! And you know that’s only going to get worse, since now on his own he’ll be able to drink they way he wants to.
I wonder why he wanted out so badly. This is going to be a mess for him, not her.
I never felt like Ben was crazy in love with her. I think she deserves someone who really wants to be with her for her, and the kids will likely be fine. They do seem like caring parents who will do what they can to put their kids’ needs first.
I felt the same. I felt he got he pregnant then had to do the right thing and might as well have some siblings for his kid in the process.. I never saw an epic love on his end.
I’m happy for her too. She’s to good for him; she deserves better. He seems like such as asshole.
Yeah, I’m sorry as they have a nice family, but he seems so tiresome! Can’t imagine what he’s like to live with. And Emily Ratjkowski (can’t be bothered to look up her name) is such a friggin’ cliche … how embarrassing. #TeamJen
Emily Ratjkowhatsit, famous only for her pneumatic, bouncing boobies in that vile Robin Thicke video would be such a downgrade.
I’m so happy for Jen now that’s she’s finally free of that moody chimp.
+1 to everything. 🙂
Agree, bettyrose and the rest. I always thought she loved him more than he loved her, and she was fighting to keep it together for so long. Been there. Exhausting. Sometimes you just have to let go.
He’s a fool. He wants to cat around, or, he’s found someone else (probably temporary though). Weren’t there rumors of him being with someone in Nova Scotia or wherever he was?
Yep. But I guess that was just the top of it. There were rumours for years that he cheated on her, even by people who made comments on Celebitchy.
Yeah, he had a good thing and blew it, but I think she’s well rid of him, he’s way too self involved to be a good husband or boyfriend.
Sad for the kids but it has seemed like a pretty unhappy marriage as of late.
He looked hungover, to me, in every photo.
This. Hungover, or distant, not “there” – mentally his thoughts were elsewhere.
Page Six says they were separated for six months seeing counselors. TMZ, like part of Page Six, says they are ironing out the money and property with their business manages, and then once that is done, they will officially file for the divorce.
Drunk, gambling-addicted stripper hound, is what I read. If that’s so, then good for her?
We watched Gone Girl last night and I wondered if they had pulled him out from under a log.
The biz managers (which are really life handlers) and lawyers have probably been working on this for months already. From personal experience, the announcement comes as late as you can get it, after a lot of work has been done putting big things into place.
I like them as a couple. This really breaks my heart 😔
This is disappointing. I was hoping they last this one out, I am sad but not surprised. why can’t these people stay together.
Yes, I think it’s sad. I liked them as a couple. It was sad to see he started drinking again. i wish them both a lot of luck going forward. Hopefully it will be amicable and they can share child raising. They both will be fine career wise IMO.
Does Ben really strike you as the type to take the kids for 2 weeks each month, half the summer holidays, etc.? I think Jen just got saddled with all the child care.
So in other words status quo.
Most definitely the status quo. Check out this part of her interview on The Tonight Show where she talks about the time she and all of her kids had head lice. https://youtu.be/xwcG4TCEQ84?t=51s
Ben clearly did not give a shit and talked her into going to some party regardless. She tries to spin it as a funny story, but listen to her impression of Ben. She makes him sound like a dumb, whiny baby. Which I have no trouble believing he actually is.
Yeah me too. Ben always seemed a little douchey to me but I still thought they were a nice couple. I’m sure they are both sad….they look sad. JLO must be excited though.
I never liked him but my dislike for him was somehow diminished by him having such a sweet and (so I thought) happy family. That is awful news…why are people so self-centered nowadays? Yes, marriage is hard work, but it pays off!
I know he will regret it bitterly in 20 years (or at least I hope he regrets it some day). I’m really sorry for Jennifer. I am pretty sure Ben just thought he wasn’t “fulfilled” and “satisfied” and all that bullshit, because “personal happiness is the main goal in one’s life” – can you imagine your grandparents saying such stuff?
I can’t say that it was unexpected, but as a mom to three kids about the same age as the Affleck-Garner kids, I do feel sad for them in this transition.
It’s crazy to me when I hear “I feel bad for the kids” generally speaking when things get to this point they are pretty bad and divorce
Is a relief for the entire family. Spoken by someone who wishes her parents had divorced instead of making a entire decade a living hell. Just saying. Divorce is not the worst that can happen.
I get what you are saying but it is still sad for the kids. My sister is going through a divorce. The divorce needs to happen for many reasons but it is still sad for the kids. Heck it is sad for her but she knows it is what needs to be done.
Agreed. A friend is going through a divorce with 2 small kids and while this needed to happen years ago, it’s really sad for all involved. I doubt no one goes in to a marriage, investing all that time and energy to be giddy to see it end.
It is still sad for them and a difficult transition, for pretty much any kid in that situation. I can’t imagine what it must be like when both parents are famous too, there’s going to be a LOT of media attention and rumors.
I agree. I am in my late 30’s and while as a teen I was “relieved” at the time; I realize a lot of that was perspective, that I see differently now. One parent would complain a lot, so that did color things. Not having that original family unit will affect a person for the rest of their life. Of course, depends on the degree of how bad it is, I guess.
@ Vic I agree. I no instinctively everyone thinks it’s so bad and horrible for the kids but not necessarily. I agree I’m with you. My parents are still together and they shouldn’t be. People literally make comments to me like you’re so lucky you didn’t grow up in a single parent home, especially because as an African American many Black kids grew up in single parent homes. I don’t doubt those kids had bad experiences but people need to stop assuming the grass is always greener. My dad is a horribly selfish, inconsiderate, person that doesn’t care about anyone else but himself and he will never do anything that inconveniences him. If you deviate from doing what he wants he becomes emotionally abusive. My mom point blank told me as an adult she stayed because of us, the kids and she was taught you stay in a marriage and make it work no matter what. Do you think it’s good for kids to grow up seeing toxic and dysfunctional relationships? I’m here to tell you it can screw you up very badly as someone who has never had a long-term relationship with a significant other because of it. Even more than with friends who had parents who decided to go ahead and just divorce. Kids know when things suck around them even when their parents try to act as if everything is fine, and it does them no favors to put bandaids on gangrene infested relationships.
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s relationship semed toxic. He didn’t come off like he really wanted to be with her (hell he couldn’t even smile in a few photos and pretend as an actor) when she seemed to be doing a lot of the grunt work. I don’t care for either one of them, probably in part because of this fabricated relationship that they insisted on perpetuating even when the wheels seemed to have fallen off a while ago but I just think people need to realize in this day and age that divorce isn’t always the doomsday scenario. It may actually end up being best for all parties involved. I wish Jen and her kids the best and hopefully Ben finds what he’s looking for if that’s possible.
Wow. Very well put.
Edited to say I meant I know instinctively in my first sentence. This is why you don’t type long posts on your phone lol. Also Thanks Pinky!
Layday- One of my aunts is a divorce lawyer and some years ago, I asked her who had the most difficulty in dealing with parents divorcing. My aunt told me that, in her experience, adult children have the most difficulty adjusting to the new arrangement.
Very well said.
My experience is similar here in the UK with a horrible father and mother who stayed,but reminded me of her martyrdom whenever she needed to
Financially a two parent home is stable but at what cost?
Great comment, Layday.
I get the impression they’ll be seeing a lot less of their father. I’m sad for them in that regard.
I was glad when my parents divorced, I was twelve and it was an unhappy marriage but the divorce was very traumatic and it was very hard on me and my brothers. My parents went from living together to never speaking to each other again, that was not an easy thing for we three children to survive. Not to mention being forced to move out of my childhood home and a big step down economically because Dad refused to pay child support. My stay at home mom went to work full time and I became a latch key kid. The Affleck children won’t experience such upheaval but it still won’t be fun for them when their parents split.
As a child of divorce, married to another child of divorce and best friends with yet another child of divorce, I know it was devastating for us all, and we had very different experiences as far as the level in which our families “co-parented.” There are valid reasons to divorce, but the effect on the children is traumatic regardless of the validity of the reasons for doing so. I’m sorry for these kids. BA is a jerk, and that has always been apparent. I also think he is most likely a substance abuser, and he seems to be really narcissistic as well. Of course, Garner also had a history of over-lapping relationships, so she knows something about self-serving, too. Scott Foley ended up better off, though.
Rest in peace Bennifer 2.0
Get ready for Bennifer 3.0….
if you’re saying that bennifer.3.0 means that jlo is happening again, i’ve been one in the minority saying this for weeks.
word is it’s jlo again…
If the real Bennifer came back, now THAT would be some good gossip 🙂
Fingers crossed!
Lawrence?
Yup. I totally see Bennifer 1.0 reunion with JLo.
Is there another Jennifer that you had in mind? Jennifer Lawrence?
I want it to be JLo just so she’ll ditch Casper Smart. That’s right–grumpy not even divorced gambling addict on the rebound ex-flame is somehow a step up for this multimillionaire ambitious woman. Did she not acquire Marc Anthony under similar circumstances?
JLO has 2 small kids. That is not the woman he walked away from all those years ago. He will be able to pull someone younger and without kids.
I bet he is not thinking about going back
I sure hope SHE isn’t thinking about going back. He’s a loser.
Lawrence seems to like older douchebag divorcees with holier-than-thou ex-wives so it’s possible she could be the next Jennifer on Ben’s to-do list.
no no no. It’s Gwen’s (aka The One That Got Away) shoulder he’ll be crying on. That “conscious uncoupling” advice worked like a charm
What a delightfully horrifying thought!
Yikes, I forgot they were ever together!
Just by the way he’s repeatedly spoken of her over the years, I could definitely see Ben trying to go back to JLo, and it being another disaster.
I thought of their long-ago romance earlier today, when reading the post about how she supposedly doesn’t want a steady romance. Could be a call-out to Ben (or others), given the rumors as of late. It would get her a lot of headlines and attention.
Yes please.
Yes a JLO reunion would make my year!! I’m praying to the Gossip Gods for that one. Casper Smart get the hell outta of the way!!
Mine too! And we’d get rid of Casper! Win win!
Not even an hour and everyone is already putting all the blame on Ben. Like it couldn’t have been both of them.
oh, hey Ben.
😎
Lol
ha ha ha ha ha
good one.
Yea…I’m sooo sure it was garner..stepping out on you while preg with your third kid at 40+. Riiiight. Own your doucheyness Ben.
Haha, he already unleashed his inner douche and Garner made her payday, her gig is done.
zinjojo -oh, hey Ben. I love it! Well, Ben hasn’t been happy in his personal life, but I don’t agree that that makes him a loser, douche, etc. Of course cheating at any opportunity doesn’t belong in marriage, but she got pregnant a few months after they started dating, so it was a rush job. In his professional life he has had recent big successes. I just don’t think he is a married w/children guy. Yeah, it sucks that it took him this long to figure that out, but he has a chance to put his kids first now, like he should, and that will tell the tale. He has to find balance in his life too, in regards to his, er, extracurricular activities. Not the drinking, if he is an alcoholic, he just can’t do it. But gambling, heck, I like to shoot craps and play blackjack once in a while, what is the harm if he isn’t being compulsive about it? I just don’t think he is a complete arse. He has made big decisions that he now has to do the right thing about, by which I mean, be a good dad. Don’t disappear from their lives. Life is long, you have time for yourself when they are grown.
Beanie
I see your point, but at the end of the day, it’s SAD… This whole thing is SAD!!! It’s hurtful to see something fall apart after 10 years.
I do believe that the combination of Ben and Jen (after years) was a BAD one, and the two of them just couldn’t even deal with the other any more. That’s hard, and tough, but it’s also life. We can’t be everything to each other all the time, people grow, and change and want different things… It’s sad, but it’s also life… But no matter how you cut it, divorce is SAD!!!
And you know what?! Benjamin is going to be “Angelina’d!!” HAAARD!!! And Jennifer will be the sweet angel victim of a raging whore-gambling-alcoholic-monster, who shut down ‘finding your roots’ and took over christian bale as batman. As per the tabloids of course.
I mean, it’s already beginning… Did you see how hard Angelina had to work to not be painted as a whoring home-wrecking goth??? Ben will have to work even HARDER!!!
Well, I pray for healing in their family at the end of the day. I hope that this divorce will make them stronger than their marriage ever did. Make them more caring and considerate and loving and thoughtful partners too each other and too their children.
agreed, for all the equality talk here its always the guy who is blamed. i dont doubt that Ben is a terrible husband but Garner is no saint. she probably is just better at hiding her activities.
Emma, no, I don’t think Garner is just better at hiding her activities; she’s just better for the kids. period. She isn’t working almost all the time, drinking with an acknowledged alcoholism problem, and gambling huge amounts with a known gambling addiction, and screwing around on the side when kids are involved. I think THAT’S why everyone here is team Garner!
Seriously? What activities? Raising her kids?
I am sad for their kids, divorce is never easy even though they may get a more normal and healthy upbringing because of the divorce. Honestly, while I know Jennifer is no saint, I hope she takes him to the cleaners! She revitalized his image and put up with so much sh*t from him. His career may survive because he is a dude, but first binge he goes on and it’s captured, it’s over for him.
I do feel sad for her and the kids. She had three of his children, seemed to genuinely adore him and be treated pretty shabbily in return. And the poor little kids, it will be hard for them. If 1/10 of the reports of his @ssholery are true, not one iota of sympathy for him. Let the selfish man child fend for himself.
“Assholery”….. Heh heh. Good one.
And Ben wanted a 4th one! I think Jennifer said this herself but she didn’t want more. He’s such a prick.
Easy for him to want a 4th, when she does all the freaking grunt work. Maybe he thought she’d put up with this forever.
They’ve looked miserable. Glad the kids won’t be subjected to seeing their parents so unhappy. And now Ben’s free to wander but I’m sure he’ll regret it soon enough.
I’m sorry Ben couldn’t learn impulse control – was hoping they’d make it work. The kids are adorable & do not appear to have been inundated with excessive privilege like so many Hollywood offspring.
Oh, no! Looks like all those children-exploiting pap walks were in vain!
Should have stuck with Scott Foley or Michael Vartan…
The Alias fan in me would love to see her and Vartan together again. I think he recently got divorced.
They seemed sooo cute together!
Yep, I noted on a previous thread that Vartan’s wife filed last summer, I believe it was. And one of the gossip sites last week claimed that he and Jen are back in touch, but whatever…
Meh. Never thought they were a good match from the start. He never seemed happy with her. Don’t think he’s the marrying, settling down kind. And she’ll find someone new soon , she always has before. Rumors were they both had sidepieces. P.S. JLo check your phone.
“P.S. JLo check your phone.”
To the gossip gods, PLEASE let this happen. That is all.
AMEN!!!! I loved them as a couple and it will fit perfectly into JLo’s narrative as a budget Liz Taylor.
I dont believe she will find someone new soon. She loves her children so much and has her hands full with three little ones at a very difficult time emotionally, and with him off making movies, she will be the main one home with them. The last thing she will want to do is bring a new man in the mix quickly nor I doubt have the energy to give to it.
Her children are going though a very rough time right now seeing their parents break up, and no matter what people think, she adored Ben. She will be grieving the loss of this relationship. It’s not like back in the day when she had no kids and a relationship broke up and she had a jump-off. Far different circumstances. Her focus for a while be her as mama bear to her babies and focusing on some roles that she can grab at the tough age of 42 in the movie business. She said this year in an interview she thought she had one more kick-ass action role in her. I would love to see Alias come back as a feature film.
And – after being in an LTR with a cheating, alcoholic a$$hole, I think Jen will want to go off relationships for a bit. But who knows – she does seem kind of needy.
Ya. It’s not the same when you have kids… unless you abandon them for time with your side pieces. Which is pretty much what he’s been doing up until now, right?
Jayna, I think this is all true, but she’s been alone in that relationship for a long time. She may have already processed this pretty well by now, and be ready to move on. I’m sure she will be very focused on her kids and career though.
I can see Jen with more of a John Corbett laid-back “present” type (not him, I just mean that he and Bo seem so cool and real together).
I can see Ben with a bottle wrapped in a hair extension.
Girls never been single for long. Don’t count her out!
And she likely has plenty of nanny help with the children. It’s not as if she has or will have zero help with her home and kids — not with that type of money.
Good for Jen and the kids!!! He seems like a miserable person. She can do SO much better.
I feel like we will see a weird outing of Ben and J-LO sometime in the future. Eww.
JLO has been absent from any gossip for a good two weeks now, when she was everywhere before that. Hmmmm.
I bet he had the best sex of his life with JLo and had been pining for THAT ever since.
YUP!
he’s with jlo again.
it will come out…
And how convenient that J.Lo’s boy toy just made it very clear how casual their relationship is. They are just having fun = J.Lo is basically single and free to date someone else. Hmm…
Agreed, Jenn is better off without this a**hole.
Sometimes gossip channels are correct. Let’s watch the PR onslaught. There’s a new “poor Jen” about to be created.
Oh boy. She is going to play that card and hard because she’s going to have primary custody of the kids. Not to mention a surge in her career because she’s going to be box office gold for movies gear toward women.
Eh, I agree with part of your statement.
She wasn’t much of an actress or box office draw when she was part of the ‘power’ couple so I don’t really see her being more successful once divorced.
She always seemed really busy with her kids, too busy to act, I can’t imagine that’ll improve as a single mother with…Ben Afleck for her ex.
i honestly hope she gets a big nicholas sparks movie, goes on a heartbreak tour is on the cover of every magazine. i would say she’s earned it.
I would seriously love it if Jen goes on the heartbreak tour!
She isn’t a big draw for the box office. Lots of bombs like Butter. She is like Nicole Kidman, people don’t seem to care about her movies.
Oh boy. She is going to play that card and hard because she’s going to have primary custody of the kids. Not to mention a surge in her career because she’s going to be box office gold for movies gear toward women.
yup. It will be interesting to see if, unlike Katie Holmes, she can parlay the public sympathy into gold.
That would ruin Aniston’s career!
I hope it happens.
Wow. These tabloids keep hitting the ‘nail on the head’ regarding drama in people’s marriages. I feel bad for the kids, but it seems like Ben would be happier as a single guy.
Not really they didn’t see Penn and Charlize split coming or a couple of other splits that were announced recently.
Well, they miss some, but when they say it’s over, it is true quite often! Although I guess when there’s so much power and money and, therefore, so little incentive to work through road bumps, that is sort of to be expected, so it doesn’t take a genius to call it.
Still, though, I don’t usually follow gossip mags, but color me impressed at this one.
I just keep wondering: I’m not seeing Affleck as the marrying type, I think he might never remarry, and he already has 3 kids, so personally, if I were a 40+ Hollywood couple, I think I’d be for staying “together” while leading separate lives. You know, just not to feed the gossip machine. Wait until we’re older and less famous, perhaps, or until kids are older? They have enough excuses to do so without raising too many eyebrows, and the finances to do it without affecting their children’s futures.
@ Timbuktu
That’s not true the tabs make up BS breakup stories all the time and 90% of the time they are wrong but every now and then they get it right.
Examples?
The tabloids are like a broken clock.Even a broken clock is right twice a day.Several celeb couples have broken up in the last week including Nick Jonas and Olivia,Britney and Charlie,Sean and Charlize.The tabloids were clueless.According to the tabloids Beyonce and Jay are over,Kourtney and Scott are over,Kim and Kanye are over.
that is not necessarily true. sometimes tabloids have inside info but in most cases they run the obvious story or play photo assumption.
im sure there are also cases where there is generally a rough patch in a relationship that wuold survive otherwise but gets broken up by the pressure. i mean you can be in that business for decades reading that your partner steps out on you (even if its not true) wont make your relationship happier.
look at all the covers of Jen Aniston being pregnant. she could have been pregnant in that time that does not mean that they knew though. but if she came out and confirmed it people wold have said “look, they knew!”
Oh Damn. I blame Ben for being such a twat. Even if it was an unhappy marriage, I’m sad for her and the kids, especially.
Divorce sucks, even if it’s the best of the bad options available. I hope she scores a great guy next time around.
I never believed in this pair. She was always way more into him.
The only reason he married her is because she was pregnant and he had hopes of going into politics. He thought of himself as the next JFK jr.
Yep I always thought that too, she got preg so fast, their relationship seemed to go from 0 to 100 way too fast imo. It’s amazing that they lasted as long as they did.
Same. They always seemed like a weird couple from the beginning, they say opposites attract but there was never any attraction.
I always got the impression that Jennifer was more into Ben than he was into her. I’m surprised that they lasted this long.
Absolutely she was.
I’ve pretty much been expecting this news since the day they got married. But they lasted five years longer than I thought they would, so congrats?
I can’t stand Ben, and I’m meh about JLo, yet I find myself hoping for Bennifer 1.0: Electric Boogaloo. That would be the gossip gift that keeps on giving.
Electric boogaloo cracked me up.
Thanks for the laugh!
They have seemed to jointly agree to protect their kids in other regards so hopefully they continue that awareness as they “consciously uncouple” – sorry had to say it!! 🙂
Yesterday was their 10th wedding anniversary. I kind of had the feeling that Jen would sit out 10 years. Will she now get half of his money?
(sorry for any grammatical mistakes English is not my first language)
Since they live in California (and I assume that’s where they’ll file for divorce), she’ll get 1/2 the assets unless they had a prenup (anyone know if they did?).
The magic of making it to 10 years, is that now he can be required to pay her alimony also until she remarries. So she could come out of this with 1/2 the community property (everything earned during the marriage) plus alimony based on his earnings for the foreseeable future.
Thanks for explaining the 10-year “thing”.
It’s being reported there was no prenup.
That’s the common urban legend of California divorce law. It’s not necessarily true. The judge could still give the lower earning spouse alimony for 50% of the length of the marriage, but the court will retain the discretion to change that in the future for a marriage of longer than 10 years. Whereas, for marriages of less than ten years, the court generally has no authority to go back and change things after the 50% time elapses.
There is a lot of rumor and misunderstanding about the 10-year mark in California. It’s a community property state so everyone has a right to 50% of marital assets from day one. Obviously, the longer a marriage lasts, the more marital assets there will be.
The most commonly cited (and wrong) conclusion about the 10-year mark is that it means the lower earning spouse gets spousal support, i.e. alimony, for the rest of their lives. Whereas for shorter marriages, alimony usually lasts for 50% of the length of the marriage. But really, that is not what the law says. The real law is that for a marriage of “long duration”, the court retains jurisdiction over the case indefinitely as opposed to 50% of the length of the marriage. So spousal support that is set at the time of the divorce can be revisited and adjusted indefinitely in the future. So if one of the spouse’s has a change in circumstances, the alimony can be adjusted up or down at any point in the future.
I imagine in Hollywood 10 years would be considered really ‘long duration’ 😉. Why else wait till the ten year mark to do what’s been coming for at least a year?
Yeah, 10 years is sort of accepted law as qualifying as a long duration.
Thanks for explaining the law, Susan. Apparently, I’ve misunderstood it for years. 😉
I was really hoping that the rumors were not true.
Must have been hard work for her ,desperately trying to make it work and pretending it was working,only to finally realize that neither the kids nor her blind faith in him could hold him down.
That realization must be hard. Except for the kids, that it was all for nothing.
I am not surprised, but I am a bit sad. I like the statement andI hope they follow through with it for the sake of their kids.
Whoa I didn’t actually think it would happen. When I came on this site and saw their photo I expected to see the headline that they celebrated their ten year anniversary with a pap stroll.
Way to go, Jen and I hope Ben keeps it together.
I highly doubt he’s getting with JLO though. They probably banged on the side a few times but he’s more likely do a johnny Depp and get himself a 20-something blonde. Why would he want ‘old’ JLO and her kids/baggage when he could have a young chick. Trust me – he’s getting a young babe if he hasn’t already.
The posters on the site totally called this happening, and the pap walks too. I could see a few Jlo and Casper sightings before she goes back to Ben so that it doesn’t look too suspicious.
Yeah. High-maintenance J-LO is last on his mind. She wants someone who fits in her busy life anyway. Ben isn’t that guy. It’s why she has a toy-boy.
It’s not surprising given how distressed Ben has looked recently, Jennifer is obviously better at putting on a brave face. They have looked very disconnected from one another for a long time and their comments about marriage and each other questionable at times.
It’s very sad for their family but they’ll both be much happier with more suited partners that bring out the best in them. An incompatible couple can really be toxic for each other and bring out the worst qualities.
Hope the best for them, they seem like nice people (although Ben can come across as insincere and wanting to be admired too much, maybe it’s the stress).
She probably felt some relief after putting up with so much for so long, while he probably felt panic about the surefire hit he knew his reputation (and bank account) would take.
I saw Ben in an interview, and he had puffy eyes, like he had been drinking the night before. It was a morning show interview. Then I thought, well, he’s getting older, so just age showing. Then I saw him another time with a much more refreshed look. I think Ben has been drinking again for years, but the stress of the marriage falling apart and dealing with it or at times not dealing with it I think has amped up his drinking big time again from the stress. Even if you want out, the guy loves his children, and it’s hard to know that what you want, to divorce, is going to hurt your little ones.
Puffy eyes? Maybe he was tired and just wake up
You had flipping GOOP JLO and Jen. And can’t pull it together? NO.
Ok can anyone please decipher what lainey is talking about regarding the breakup? She says there are lots of clues in her post.
Check her blind item on May 29
“Wonder” is a reference to “To the Wonder”, apparently the affair he had there was the one that almost broke them (*cough* Olga *cough).
She finally had enough. The only person who benefitted from waiting for the anniversary was her. Dear GOD what does she have on him?
Oh and Garner is still boring and a dull actress. This doesn’t change that.
Yes to everything you said Mia4S.
See Susan’s post above about the myth of the “10 year” anniversary. Also, the date of a publisist’s statement has no impact on the legally relevant dates in the divorce process.
For the past few years, Lainey has been insinuating via blind items and other lines in her non-blind item pieces that he has problems with women, gambling, drinking, and pills. She wasn’t the only one though, and he’s hardly been discreet as he’s been photographed/seen in Vegas multiple times. Not to mention he was photographed in Nova Scotia even though he was filming in Toronto and his wife was back in L.A., and rumor was that he was with another woman.
She also makes a very valid point…They announced it one day after the ten year mark. Jen probably has a LOT of dirt on Ben to make him wait for the ten year mark…it’s going to be interesting to see if it ever comes out or not. Ben has a lot of powerful friends, and he probably can squash a lot of the worst of the gossip, but by all accounts he’s hardly been discreet and if Jen wants it out there….the next week shall be very interesting in gossip land.
Well, he was in Terrence Malick’s “To The Wonder” two or three years ago, with Rachel McAdams and Olga someone.
“House of cards” = Vegas and his counting ban? Or more to the TV show plot line of cover ups? Or, per this Lainey hint, too many women to count? Cards again, re “play out”? Or women, as in player? I mean — this all seems common knowledge, his issues.
The only thing I could think of re: House of Cards–current star Kim Dickens was his co-star in Gone Girl as well. The wording of the blind suggests more than one side piece eg Oklahoma during To the Wonder and someone more recent, but not that recent. Though KD doesn’t seem like his type.
Kim Dickens is apparently gay, so I doubt it would be her.
House of Cards=Robin Wright? She and Ben co starred in State of Play, surprise surprise, just before Wright divorced Penn. They share the same Congo charity cause, The Enough Project and he tweeted supporting her last Congo project. She split with her toy boy by November, i think, when Ben and Jen supposedly separated. Then came back together but I don’t think she really wants to get married to that kid. I don’t know, I’m just guessing. Maybe they’ve been f–k buddies all this years? It’s plausible in Hollyweird. I’ll get the popcorn for the news to come about Affleck side piece.
I think she’s talking about a blind she posted about a month ago.
“Wonder” could also be a reference to Wonder Woman, no?
Lynda Carter? 🙂
I think she is referring to Wonder Woman in the batman movie…I could be wrong.
Yeah, I wondered about that. Gal Gadot is gorgeous.
That makes sense. Because LG was suggesting gossip people have refrained from talking about I assumed she was referring to some older past project.
I thought Gal Gadot was married though — not that that would make it impossible. I am just trying to imagine someone like her attracted to a sort of shlumpy gambling drinking bro clown like Affleck.
Hey was’t Olga from To The Wonder up for the Wonder Woman role, too? Hm.
Sad for jen and kids etc. But she was always too good a woman for him. That said,
… get back woth j-lo ben, cause gdi id ship that all over again. You two crazy kids need each other.
Pls pls pls, plssssss gossip goddesses, let this happen
I feel like he’s totally gonna go into a crazy downward spiral of gambling and drinking and who knows what else
Yep, and even if he’s banging J-Lo again, she won’t be the last one. There will be plenty more.
I was just wondering about the revolving door of 20 -25 yr olds we’re all about to see.
I thought that myself. I hope not. I’m not a big fan of him as an actor, but he’s really rebuilt his career and is a decent director, so it’d be a shame to lose it all again. But mostly he needs to be a good dad to his kids, and that will not include bottoming out.
Think he may fo the opposite & clean up. Think he was passively aggressively trying to get out of the marriage.
Agree. He was so clearly trying to get her to dump him for the last couple of years. Same thing with Gwyneth and J.Lo, he went totally off the rails near the end and they eventually ditched him, then he pulled himself together until the next time he needed to end a relationship.
He’ll be fine until he wants out of whatever relationship he starts next.
It’s gonna be a fun summer for Ben-watchers! (If not for Ben himself who I picture going on a months-long bender…)
Thrilled for Jen. Ben is a dunce. Hope the kids get some counselling during this time.
You look at Ben Affleck and he is someone who seems to have it all: he’s handsome, super smart, talented, well connected. And yet he sabotages himself again and again. He found this gorgeous woman who was prepared to put up with A LOT from him and he’s blown it. Again. I keep thinking of that Gwyneth Paltrow quote about him, how he makes life difficult for himself. He sure does.
He’s like Charlie Sheen with an Oscar.
^This is the best quote of the thread!
Eh I don’t find her gorgeous. Conventionally attractive to a point but no it factor or charm. Or fashion sense. He suits someone more glam (like gwyn or jlo) even if he is a dbag
Seriously, just look a this incident with the PBS Gates show, talk about digging your own pit. The man created a public relations nightmare for something so illogically out of his control. Now the attempt to hide it is bigger than the original scandel.
Now that he’s divorcing his PR shield, the wheels will completely come off, I have no doubt there will be a flood of stories about his bad boy behavior throughout their marriage.
Here’s the 60 Minutes link to Gwyneth talking about Ben being a knucklehead and his ideal woman being a stripper or some girl with beer in a wet T-shirt contest!
http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article/259104/gwyneth-in-love
Divorce and break ups are never easy.
But in this case it is probably for the best.
Ben really looked unhappy.
Yeah, he really did.
Unhappy she stopped dealing with his B.S., Unhappy his family man image is finally now shattered, Unhappy he will be parting with serious amount of cash.
I find it hard to have any sympathy for someone who breaks their marriage vows. Especially him.
If you want out of a marriage than man up and file.
I shouldn’t be shocked but I am, makes me sad for her, she seems like a genuinely nice person and he’s been such a douche lately. She deserves someone who respects her enough not to cheat and the kids need a father who would rather be home than out gambling all hours of the night. I’m sure she isn’t perfect but I guarantee this is mostly his doing, either she finally had enough and kicked him out or he finally gave up the charade and left. Sad all around!
I agree.
I’m kinda shocked, too. For some reason I assumed the rumors were just rumors, not sure why I was willing to give him/them the benefit of the doubt.
I know I like her too. Even if she’s conniving. Everyone in hollywood is practically all the time. So whatever, still like her.
“Wow.” That was my reaction when I first saw this news, though I can’t say it was at all unexpected…
The only thing that surprised me about it was that they didn’t wait to announce on Friday, July 3rd. It was inevitable in any case but still nonetheless sad.
I remember how unhappy she looked after her second child was born. It was such a contrast with the first one. I felt she must be going through something then. He’s probably been difficult the entire time.
I remember everyone saying she had the second child to keep him. He was getting ready to walk then. They said the same when she was pregnant with the third band aid, I mean child.
Well….thank the fates for that. I was tired of hearing about this difficult marriage. Honestly, I can’t think of any time where he talked about joy of marriage, only the work. Like it was a gruelling, hard, exhausting slog.
Poor Jen. She was really into him. Too bad he wasn’t into her.
Sidenote: that wine red dress has always my favourite Jen Oscar styling. Rachel Zoe might be cuckoo, but she always dressed Jen beautifully.
After reading through all the comments just now, I gotta say I completely agree that it IS a big relief! I do hope he’ll step up and be a good parent, but I secrely cannot wait to see what kind of shenanigans he gets up to. This could be epic.
Garner will be paid well i’m sure, she’s no dummy. Wasn’t it rumored that she was the one behind the leak of the Blake Lively photos? I believe it. Never a fan and I always thought the sugary aspect of her personality was an act. I get the feeling she’s more like the Winona Ryder character in THE AGE OF INNOCENCE in her real life. I wouldn’t fk with her.
Nah. She’s as nice as she seems. Ben in an interview once said she’s the nicest person he’s ever known and so kind and good. He says she’s that way to a fault and he even feels bad when he makes a negative comment about someone in her presence.
Didn’t she hook up with Michael Vartan while she was still married to Scott Foley and ditched Michael for Ben?
I am not a huge fan of hers, thought she did great work in Juno (I was pleasantly surprised by her performance), but I do believe she was in love with Ben and really wanted it to work.
GAAAAHHHHHHHH! THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS UP. SOMETIMES YOU GET WHAT YOU CHASE AFTER. I remember this video with the cast from electra/dare devil and she was like a school girl fawning all over him. So obvious they hooked up. She was married and I think he was with jlo.
Still sad for the kids.
I wonder why they didnt wait until the 4th of july weekend to announce it? The weekend is usually when celebrities unload unhappy news.
I think the one day after their ten year anniversary is the key to the timing. It shows she was in control of exactly when it was announced. 48 hours ago would have saved him a lot of money. But she is saying, nope, you are not pulling that one on me. IMO
Tabloids already have their stories for tomorrow, so they have at least a week to work on a story for this. and by then, it will be relatively old, though expected news. People might have it as a cover as they sometimes push things out of the way at the last minute. Ben is having a bad few weeks with this the worst, along with the PBS mess. Guess they weren’t remodeling after all with the moving vans. They should never have started those forced pap walks with Affleck looking absolutely miserable.
If he wanted to announce last week, and she insisted on the 10-year mark, then it sounds like she won out by announcing one day after the date.
I also don’t see why they didn’t wait until Thursday or Friday, though, just to help the news get lost in the jumble of the (US) holiday. I agree with the poster above, that this may be a clear signal she “won” that part.
MTE, funcakes.
It’s been a long time coming. The bottom line is they got together after working on Daredevil together, when Jen was physically at her prime. They were together for only a short amount of time before she was pregnant with Violet. The rest is 10 years of a sad history. I’m sure she was the glue that held the marriage together, so I have no doubt that she will wind up just fine. I don’t imagine her single for very long, she’s always overlapped partners. Hopefully she will take some time and really discover who she is outside of a man, or mother. Maybe, just maybe, it will give her some grit in her acting.
As for Ben…he needs to stay a bachelor, married to all that is debaucherrific.
I was kind of sad to hear this news. I thought something good had come out of that awful movie! (j/k.. the three kids are good)
So who do we see them with next? I hope Amber Heard tries to latch herself to him, because that would just be hilarious. Dare to dream.
She would put him through the ringer. LOL
Well, since it’s just a dream, I say he hooks up with Aniston, breaking up her thing with that dude, and then blows it with her by hopping into a Mini Cooper with you know who for a tongue filled photo-op. Dreams can be fun!
Lainey has reported on this with lots of clues. Anyone have insight or ideas what some may mean? Thanks !:)
I thought the Wonder clue was about Gal Gadot the 30yr old actress playing Wonder Woman.
But that’s all I’ve got
I got the same clue (it was pretty easy to guess, hehe)… juicy!
Nobody guessed her as a possible side-piece…
I’m looking forward to reading all the upcoming gossip…
she can do SOOOOOOOOOOO much better than him. He’s a total assclown.
They might have announced the split after 10 years of marriage but I bet they have been separated for a while the story and pictures of him in Canada without his wedding ring certainly point to that.
Wait til next week when it’s confirmed to be Bristol baby daddy
Hysterical!
What does his assistant look like? LOL I swear they always have an affair with their assistant. Diane Lane’s ex, Josh Brolin, is engaged to his 20-something-year-old assistant.
WHAT?!?!! I didn’t know that!
Ew. Just…Ew.
I went to high school with Josh, he was a bit of a player back then, I doubt he’s changed all that much.
time to start speculating as to who the next “Bennifer” will include: will it be Jlaw, or will he go OG with Lopez? Discuss.
Took the thoughts right outta my head. Jaws would drop world wide of Bennifer got bac together.
Finally. Oy vey the gossip wasn’t even that interesting. He’s a mess, they have seemingly been using each other for image purposes only for quite some time, they wait til Jen can get the most out of it under CA law, announce during the week and then beg for privacy. Seriously, what don’t we already know?
No one put a gun to his head to marry her.
Plus he was getting a lot of high-fives for being with the “right” Jennifer.
All in all, though, Garner has to accept some of the blame. She looked the other way, enabled a lot of his addictions.
The marriage was toxic and doomed from the start but I won’t follow the narrative that she is a squeaky-queen martyr. Please.
She got want she wanted from the union too.
No break up is ever completely one sided – even if one person is mainly “to blame,” both parties play a role. I am currently going through a divorce and the message from every mental health professional is very clear – to heal and move on, you have to own your part in the demise of the relationship, even if your role was keeping your mouth shut and putting up with behavior you shouldn’t have.
No glee from me in this. While I do think they will both be better off apart, I know how awful it is – particularly when there are kids involved.
Surprised but not surprised, this was a couple where I never got the sensation they were really happy or into each other which is weird. Even the dumbest most poorly planned celeb relationships (cough! Johnny Depp! cough! Amber Heard! cough!) has that ‘something’ where even if one party is being manipulated you know they’re still semi-into each other.
I wish her luck, he seems like an idiot, but she also seems so weirdly withdrawn from life. The good thing is she’ll get alimony since she doesn’t seem to act much and she does seem like a very devoted mom so I’m sure she’ll do her best to shelter the children. Just 10 years waiting for the shoe to drop..
No need to worry about her..imdb lists seven future projects for her..as producer..she’s evidently got more clout than people think and it looks like she’s more into controlling a project than acting in it..smart.
So if the blind was true, was it Olga or Rachel McAdams he was having an affair with back when he did that movie, To the Wonder? I was thinking it was Olga, but could it have been Rachel?
Ben in a scene with Rachel McAdams
http://d1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net/5b/c5/6c44d0d44640bb911bfecf6d6350/to-the-wonder-ben-affleck-rachel-mcadams.jpg
Ben in a scene with Olga in the same movie.
https://postmediacanadadotcom.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/olga.jpg
And Olga was one of the actresses up for the Wonder Woman part.
CDAN says it was with Rachel McAdams whereas Lainey says it was with Olga.
An extra (who finally worked at the production )on IMDB said it was anyone and Garner often visited Affleck on set
YOU stop saying such things about MY Rachel THIS INSTANT! NO!!!!!!!!
Mte. Love Rachel McAdams! But I would loose all my respect for her if she was the one he had an affair with
While I hate to see a family broken up, and my heart breaks for all involved (especially the children), sometimes divorce really is the best option. Especially for the kids if the parents are completely miserable together. Why would you want to subject your children to that kind of environment? I wish them well.
He’s a tool.
The best of luck to those poor kids. Cripes.
I’m a little surprised, I honestly thought it would be a load of crap. It’s ashame for the kids, but if their parents try to make it work & exhausted every option then I don’t blame either of them for taking that step. I think her priority most likely is to help the kids transition through the divorce smoothly as possible. She seems sweet, she looked very emotional in that interview clip posted above. Seems like she was missing her family whilst she was going through something tough. I hope she has a good support network in her family & friends to help her & her children get through this. Ben lost a good lady! I hope he can co-parent with Jennifer peacefully. He sounds like a right mess by the reports on here. Jen is a very patient woman to deal with his shiz & was very much in love with Ben.
I’m not that surprised but on the last post about Affleck’s lies that caused Finding Your Roots to be cancelled by PBS, I predicted that these two would eventually get a divorce but that he’d wait it out until some of this negative press subsided. I guess he really could not wait to end this marriage and probably would have done it sooner had not Garner forced him to stay until the 10 year anniversary mark. Maybe she will try to be as amicable as possible for the kids and because he agreed to stay until their 10th year anniversary. I doubt he is happy about having to split his assets with her (unless he had an iron clad prenup) but imagine the dirt she has on him and how she could completely destroy his reputation with tales about his gambling, drinking, and affairs if he does not cooperate with her. I’m sure some of those stories will come out, but Garner probably knows about many more affairs than any of the tabloids.
I wonder which of the dozen or so Final Straws finally did it?
Me too, I can’t help but wonder how long it’s been over. I do feel sad for their children though and I hope it is an amicable divorce.
From Page Six are some excerpts below. Two things caught my eye. Six months they’ve been separated? I imagine they were making a slow transition for the children.
And he’s going to live on the property but not in the main house? So why the moving trucks? That doesn’t make sense.
“Ben and Jennifer have been separated for more than six months. Nobody is taking this lightly, they have been seeing counselors for years. The situation is that people change over the years and they grow apart.
“They plan to share custody and co-parent their kids. They still love each other and want to do the best thing for their kids.”
Ben will remain living on the property of their Brentwood home, but will not share the main house, we’re told.”
Ya I call BS on Ben will be living on the property. One why get a big moving van when they could have just hired some guys to move the furniture or Ben could have got some of his friends to come over to help him movie his stuff.
My friend hurt her back 2 years ago and hired a couple of guys to move her bedroom furniture from upstairs benroom to her downstairs spare bedroom.
Secondly I can’t see Jen standing for Ben bring his girlfriends or the women he cheated with on to the property nor would Ben want to feel like he’s trap again.
Ben’s living situation is probably temporary until they work out how they will split their property and share custody. He will likely move out after they officially file for divorce which has not happened yet. I imagine it would be more convenient for him to stay on the property while working with their managers and lawyers and to finish packing what he wants to bring with him when he leaves. I read a while ago that they have an apartment in NYC, a ski chalet in Montana, and a house in Savannah. Lots of property to be sold or decided on how it can be shared for the kids.
@kibbles: Affleck is buying or tried to buy a $25 millions home at NY this year
CO$ will be all over her for the next Cruise wife auditions.
Que a mini rebound reunion with JLo.
Does this mean we get to see a 13 Going On 30 sequel now? Mark Ruffalo said he would still be friends with Jen if not for Ben. Bring them back. Anything just to see Mark in another movie.
Ben is not going to do well when a man comes into his little children’s lives as a stepdaddy and they are hanging all over him.
I enjoyed that movie! Never heard the part about Mark and Jen not being friendly because of Ben. Interesting.
Even though he seems checked out, I suspect the grass isn’t going to be as green as he thinks, once he’s free to roam more pastures and another man enters the picture.
THIS. I’m a big fan of Ruffalo’s, and honestly, she could use more non d-bags in her life.
What’s flabbergasting is, does Ben actually think he can do better than her? I laugh in his general direction!
Monty Python (paraphrased)! Yes!
I honestly think Mark was joking when he said that, I saw the interview and I’m sure it was a joke.
This means that Jennifer is going to start looking post-divorce HOT again, which will be a welcome change from the comfortable mom clothes. Nothing wrong with comfortable mom clothes, but I’m ready for her to put forth the “I’ve still got it” movie-star vibe that I know is coming!
Yay!
She’s been looking really great all year in interviews. You would never know there’s problems in their marriage the way she covers when joking about Ben like below. I can’t believe she’s 43. She has such a pretty face without all that filler and botox you see 40 somethings doing in Hollyweird. She’s always so adorable in interviews. Jennifer earlier this year with Jimmy Fallon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsyd2R7uIeA
And another one on Fallon with her looking really fantastic and talking about the first time meeting Clooney and joking about why they probably didn’t get invited to his wedding and joking about Ben.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwcG4TCEQ84
She does look gorgeous in both those interviews , reminds me of Jessica alba even. I can see her physical appeal there (way more than pap shots) but the personality not at all, maybe just my preference but she comes off too eagar and fake.
Jennifer Garner does have fillers and botox. A really good, natural looking work. but she does have it. Great Doc.
This makes me sad. I know they appeared to be having problems but they were such a cute family and I feel for their children. That really sucks.
When people talk about the children yes it is heart breaking. But I don’t think any Woman or Man really expects that other person to stay for the kids. No matter what; women/men want their spouse to be there for them. Yes they say stay for the kids but that hope is that while the person is staying for the kids they hope they get caught back up in the “family”.. I’m sure Jennifer is thinking of her kids.. but I would make a bet that she wanted her husband to stay for her; to love her and want her. Because you can be a parent to your children without a partner to that other person. If it was all about the kids then it would be different; you would just be a parent.. not a spouse. and that would be such an empty thing as a person. Nobody wants that kind of marriage. Children should not be responsible for holding a marriage together.
Eonline just said that they were in Counseling for 2 years (damn) and a trial separation for 10 months and that Ben was living in hotels. He is supposedly still living on the property but in a different building.
Well, they kept a lot on the down low that gossip rags didn’t get. They’ve been separated for quite a while. They hid that part well.
well if you look at pics.. Ben wasn’t doing such a great job. I guess the family outings was to keep the gossip hounds away. I think Ben was over it and was ready for it to be done.. Tired of pretending. Beside Marriage counseling only works when 2 people want it to work.
Well really they only managed to hide that because Ben’s lived like he’s separated for most of the marriage. The only thing that changed 6 months ago is they made it official.
I always think with him after ARGO won best picture he let his ego get in the way. He probably felt he was invincible plus with the success of Gone Girl. I think when he was the underdog struggling to make a comeback it kept him in check and JG helped him with that as well. But a huge ego can only be suppressed for so long especially when your this A+ list director now. But she’ll be fine and hopefully dealing with all of this mess she’ll come out stronger for it. Him, well hope it was all worth it in the end for him (i.e. the cheating, gambling, drinking if rumors are to be true) SMDH. Self-control can take you a long way in this world but fools never learn.
Gone girls was more about Pike than him. People just felt Ben was playing himself. When I listened to the dialogue in the movie it just seemed like things Ben was thinking. That he could say the crap he wanted to say in the movie; because he couldn’t say it in real life. You know.. the perfect wife on the outside.. but he was dying in the marriage. and maybe Jennifer was too and didn’t realize it. It has to be exhausting to be that perfect wife.. On all the time.
I think it’s clear she adored him.
But I also find it funny that no one remarks that they married only after she became pregnant with Violet. I don’t think this union began with rainbows, mad love and commitment. I think they were dating, she got knocked up and they made a go of it… and lasted ten years. Not a bad run when you consider it under those circumstances.
+1
True dat.
Yup.
Couldn’t agree with this more!
He once referred to his wife as “a saint.” If you can’t maintain a marriage with a saint, you’re not marriage material for anyone. She did hang on for quite awhile it seems. I wonder if infidelity caused them to take this last, drastic measure.
A saint who put up with all his bs I would think…
Saints are exhausting. Imagine trying to live up to that. You are already wrong footed before you’ve began.
What does it say about me that the minute I saw this “breaking news” I gleefully ran to Celebitchy! I knew they wouldn’t disappoint. My boyfriend now says “Lemme guess, Celebitchy called it?”
Too bad, but not unexpected. Good for her for waiting until the 10 year mark, I have a feeling she deserves every penny. The kids will fine, they’ll adjust.
Neither Ben nor Jen have ever really been single, so this should be good. Let me fire up microwave popcorn!
Apparently they are separated since more 6 months so the 10 year mark doesn’t work
In US divorce papers, you can pick a date for the “official” separation. Since the divorce was announced today, they will probably say that today (or maybe yesterday) was their legal separation date to bring the marriage officially to the 10 year mark. You can file for legal separation first instead of going straight to divorce but I don’t think they did this. (It’s a court document and we would have found out by now, I’m sure.) What do they do in France?
Not sure whether that would be applicable in California, and it doesn’t seem they ever filed for legal separation. I do find their choice to announce this one day after their anniversary somewhat odd though. They’ve been ramping up to this for weeks now, so it doesn’t seem like a “i’ve had it up to HERE” kind of move lol. Maybe I’m too cynical but can’t help noticing the timing will promote maximum comment, even while they request privacy.
I secretly hope Jennifer will reunite with her former costar Michael Vartan from Alias! They didn’t date that long (a year maybe?) but they were so cute together. Also Michael Vartan recently divorced too so they can commiserate. And then he’ll become the perfect step-father who will accompany them to endless farmer’s markets and Starbucks runs and dance classes. Maybe Jennifer will move back to West Virginia to be near her parents and sisters.
As for Ben, I hope he faces his demons because it is really too bad it didn’t work out with Jennifer. I’m sure Jennifer is partly to blame too but the drinking and gambling couldn’t have helped along with the workaholic tendencies. Wouldn’t be surprised if he cheated.
Jennifer has a lot of great friends where she lives and says she can’t be without her girlfriends. She once said she could handle Ben being gone on location but couldn’t be without her friends because at least if she had them she could bitch about Ben being off on location. They’ve been friends for years and I’m sure all have the mommy thing in common. She loves where she lives and still doing some acting and I doubt has any desire to move back to West Virginia except for long visits.
I agree that West Virginia will not be her home base. I’m sure with her millions she has already bought her family nice property in West Virginia to accommodate Jennifer and her children when they visit. But I doubt she will want to give up her acting career or move herself and her children away from their friends in LA. I still believe that Garner dated and married her way up from Scott Foley to Ben Affleck in part for more fame and fortune. My prediction is that her next move will be to continue her pap walks with her children and maintain and milk her celebrity mom (now single mother and victim ex-wife of cheater and gambler) image for all its worth. And she will try to score more movie roles from this divorce. I don’t think she will go quietly and live a normal life away from LA and the paparazzi.
@ Kibbles
I agree Jen loves the paparazzi attention and the “perfect” mother image too much to leave it behind and Iive outside of LA.
I think it’s sad he didn’t fight for his beautiful family. Poor Jen and kids.
3 kids she took care of mostly by herself and took “mom” roles for over and over, and seeing his bad behavior all over the tabloids for a decade? He better have voluntarily given her the 10 years and more. That’s what she deserved. He should give her the Batman money. She singlehandedly rehabbed his image lost JLo.
I really thought Ben and Jennifer were going to be together at least until their kids were adults. But their recent pics said something different. I hope they do what’s best for their babies and the media leaves their children alone. I wonder why they waited until the day after their tenth anniversary. What’s the point?
Bad boys are only fun for a while. When getting married and having a family it’s better to find someone who adores you and your children and who puts your family first. I don’t know how any marraige can last when your spouse goes to work with people they make out with and then show their private parts on camera. I don’t know many people that would be okay with that.
Quelle surprise! as Holly Golightly might have put it. Take-away lesson #146: never believe pap shots of Happy Couple/Loving Family.
Ooops – there go all those “BIs” of Enty’s – no need!
Except, they didn’t look happy. Esp., him.
Jlo will have a Vegas residency- HOW CONVENIENT
Just curious.. why Ben has never dated someone not in the business. I think if he had married someone not in the business things would be so different. I’m surprised he had dated 3 women that are somewhat high profile.. yet to my knowledge he has never been with someone that is just out there without being associated with Hollywood.
ben did date enza sambataro for a few months in 2004 between j lo and j garner… she was a civilian. but turns out she had a thing for famous men b/c she went on and married a boston red sox player (later divorceD)
Ben likes women who are taken. JLO was married, Garner was with Vartan. Why did she not think this would implode is beyond me. Garner really thought this clown was an upgrade.
This news although I knew it was coming still saddens me.
+1
Not surprising. You all called it weeks ago.
There are other celebrity/royal marriages that seem sort of vulnerable to divorce, too.
I think the only Hollywood couple that is going to make it is John Travolta and Kelly Preston.
And a lot of rumors say John is secretly gay…
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick. Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy. Brangelina (IMO.)
Alcoholism/addiction is a sad, complicated family disease. They’ve had it written all over their faces for some time, in my opinion. I’m thinking his downward spiral is just going to accelerate unless/until he gets help. At least now the kids won’t have to watch it happen under their roof anymore, although he probably hasn’t even been around much lately. I hope Jen gets herself and the kids some help as well if she hasn’t already; often people don’t realize the deep and often subtle effects on them of a loved one’s disease and all the -isms that go along with that.
Hats off to Celebitchy and all the posters who called this divorce last week and the week before! AWESOME!
I just can’t believe she was foolish enough to have 3 children knowing her marriage wouldn’t last forever. And yes, we always know the state of our relationships if we decide to be honest.
Foolish or clever? The more kids, the more child support.
Not surprising. There’s been rumors for years. I bet they’ve wanted out for for probably a few years, but tried to make it work for the sake of their kids. I wouldnt be surprised if Samuel was a “Lets save our marriage” baby.
Well! I said weeks ago, Ben always looked miserable for last two years. Keeping up appearances has become tiresome for both of them it is time to moved on without bitterness and animosity.
Please JG CHEATED ON HER HUSBAND SCOTT FOLEY during Alias with Michael Vartan. Then CHEATED AGAIN, on Michael with Ben. So the sobbing and feeling bad for JG – is unbelievably. How easily it is to dupe the masses? My friend did a pilot with Scott Foley on NBC. The show it got picked up then canceled. Right after the divorce. Scott used say Jen wanted to marry a movie star and Vartan was a place holder. He was bitter and jeoulous of her Alias success, but boy was he right. Within a year, Vartan gone and Affleck in …. So yeah, poor, poor Jen just sweet West Virginia girl who made it big….aaawwww, shucks…..
It’s very irritating how everyone’s putting it all on him.
Alcoholism effects an entire family.
Honestly I think they were both pretty basic in the sense that they tended to chase pretty actors whose careers were on an upswing at the time.
Maybe Vartan is a bore himself. His new wife dumped him. Do you not wonder why? Vartan stated after the breakup he and Jen were always better as friends. That doesn’t sound like a brokenhearted guy, more like a dating relationship that just ran its course.
Bennifer 1.0 Part 2 please. Goes to show no matter how hard you try, your ability to keep a man by continuing to have his baby ends at some point.
I’ve been saying it for years. They just never seemed to fit. Yes, they looked like a happy, beautiful family on the outside, but their personalities just seemed wildly different. I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did, and my guess is it was mainly due to Jen’s persistence and insistence. i don’t see Ben as the villain here. They both got in, stayed in, made the choices they made as adults, probably made mistakes big and small – he might have the vices, but she knew from the beginning what she was getting into, and she went after him hard. They just didn’t work out, not a good match for each other. Like a million other couples. I don’t get the “love is dead” theme on Twitter. These two never represented a great, epic love story to me. They just seemed like two people who stayed together a long time but seemed awkward together and unhappy for much of it. There are other couples who I’d feel worse if they divorced – Kevin Bacon/Kyra Sedgewick, Tom Hanks/Rita Wilson. And the press is already spinning the predictable narrative – Ben, evil, vice-ridden man who kept Jennifer down; Jen, saint who can now finally rise up from under Ben’s shadow and reclaim her life and career. We’ll never know what truly happened, but I’m sure it was a slow burn over years that involved both of them.
I agree to everything you said. It’s a spot-on. Their marriage had never been the “relationship goals” kind. They have beautiful children but their body language said it all. It’s not relaxed. I’ve always thought they’re not going to last. They both forced themselves, as far as I can see.
Agree on everything.
Remember when everyone believed in Reese Witherspoon’s perfect mom routine? Wasn’t she too pregnant when she married? So ladylike, so Southern.
Please. You are not married to Ben for 10 years and seriously have 3 kids with him unless she got something major out of the arrangement.
reese was very very young with her first pregnancy, like early 20s. I wouldn’t judge her for that.
I am not a person who considers divorce lightly. Having been married way past the 10 year mark. In any marriage if one person is not willing to work on themselves or make any attempt at changing behavior that is destructive to the marriage and to the actual person themselves than all either person in a marriage can do is choose to stay and take care of themselves (and children if there are any) or leave.
I still do not understand why they had a 3rd child unless it was an oops baby. He was miserable than. HE used his family as a marketing tool, maybe she went along with it? I have no respect for that guy at all after he edited his own family history on a TV show for his image. I am sure he does not give a toss about me not caring. Maybe the studio that does Batman will.
She is very fortunate to have the ability to divorce and be financially stable. Her children will at least not deal with financial hardships that many other American families deal with in divorce. I know some couples who stay married because they can not afford with the children they have to have the cost of two places to live.
I don’t get the impression they took it lightly, they seem very couples therapy types to me (well she does). I think Jen put up with a lot of…shenanigans, there’s not much doubt is there? So she either finally had enough, he stopped caring enough to be nice at least at home, who knows. People do have kids as band aids, happens all the time, they just prove that being rich and famous doesn’t preclude them from that. You are right she will never have to worry about money – she honestly could support them with her own earnings I’m sure but she won’t have to worry about that either.
WOW I really feel bad for Jennifer Garner, she worked so hard in that marriage.
Can any guys shed light on why they would throw away a marriage to someone like Jen?
By all accounts, she leaves Ben alone with his vices (wh*res, gambling) so long as he doesn’t embarrass her, bore him children, raise his children and keep a nice home, never overshadows him, and really did wonders for his public image (family man lol). Is it just because he wants a younger model publicly on his arm?
i don’t think she turned a blind eye. i think it’s more the case he kept promising he’d change and she’d let him him convince her… until she didn’t.
I feel sad for Jen and the kids. Ben Affleck is a big FAIL. It seemed Jen lovingly did everything to keep the family together but he just didn’t care about anyone but himself so he chose to cheat, gamble, and drink over his family. He lived and loved the single life while married. I can only imagine the hell he put Jennifer Garner through and I hope to see her end up with a loving, hot, guy that will love her kids just as if they were his own.
Announcing right after the 10 year anniversary is clearly indicative of her strength and smartness.
This marriage has always been presented with Jen being the good girl who is trying to put a lid on all of Bens misguided tendencies.Oh why can’t he just be a better family man with better values. Been there and it is exhausting for both parties.The underrated fun in the relationship was probaly destroyed in the struggle. Of course I know that a divorce can be traumatic for the children and I do feel for them.In my own case it turned out that seeing a happy relationship which survives because of shared values and not despite the basic differences with a large dose of joy thrown in was better for everyone.My son married a wonderful girl and believes in committed relationships.I hope some of this is derived from 20 years of a good 2nd marriage as an example and not the lousey one of his younger years.
Although this split has been rumoured for months it still took me by surprise as I really doubted that they would split in order to keep up their happy family image that they both seem so invested in. I actually expected them to lead separate lives in private but do a few pap strolls together every once in a while to keep up their happy family image.
I really hope that the tabloids don’t paint Jennifer as a saint and victim in this marriage for the next twenty years like they have with Jennifer Aniston.
Once the news is out from the shelves about the divorce, I think Ben will be riding the misdle life crisis train so hard, no 20+ actress in Hollyood will be safe.
And that would render his past, the 40+ flames, superfluous. This is show business ever lasting path and I don’t see Ben not falling straight into it.
Good. An alcoholic cheating gambler is not a good role model for kids — hopefully now they’ll be able to meet better male role models. I dislike him (he’s a dishonest selfish creep), don’t care much about her, but I will be thrilled to no longer hear claims from either of them that marriage is a Sisyphean horror.
Divorce is actually not “always” hard on the kids. It entirely depends on how the parents comport themselves during it. My parents’ marriage did a number on me, but their divorce was only good, because they acted like grown-ups, and my father had no spoiled brat issues fulfilling his responsibilities like so many men seem to.
Also maybe this will mean people stop claiming Jen’s “frumpy” and therefore committing a terrible sin that will drive her husband away. C’mon, people, I wear pjs every day and my husband doesn’t care at all, except he’d rather I was naked 24/7. The vast majority of men simply DO NOT CARE about fashion. And considering the shlubby way Ben’s been looking, this myth is even more misogynistic than usual in this particular case.
Don’t know who she has lined up on her Hollywood career social climb but that has been her MO since felicity so I’m sure it’s someone. Sorry don’t think she is the sweet victim of big bad mean Ben. He is the only reason she still has a career let’s be real.
Everyone is assuming HE ended it, but in the pics we’ve seen over the last few months, she looks pretty satisfied and he looks miserable. Perhaps she ended it because she had finally had enough of his bs. Maybe the reason he looks so miserable is because she had already ended things but was forcing him to keep up appearances, for the kids, until the divorce was announced. Just a thought.
Who knows what’s true, but other sources are reporting that they had already been separated for at least six months. It looks like they were still doing things together for the kids sake, but they both knew what was on the horizon, which probably made it hard to put on happy faces. Hollywood Life has some sources talking about how their relationship became more like mother/son over time, and they just grew apart.
Completely down for Jlo to ditch the dancer and get back with Ben, honestly. They were entertaining and iconic together.
He openly and publicly blamed JLo for ruining his reputation and turning him into a laughing stock. As if he had no responsibility for how he presented himself. His friends were telling the press how she wasn’t good enough for him and how Garner was so much better. There would have to be something seriously wrong with her to lower herself to going back to a man with that attitude toward her.
Holy sh*t, I knew it was coming, but this seriously makes me sad.
It’s hard to cheer or salivate when three kids are about to go through a difficult, childhood-defining experience. Maybe the split has been gradual and they’re already dealing with it peacefully, and I have no doubt their quality of life will improve when their mother is happier… but come on, people. They’re just kids.
I’m so grateful my mom got out when I was still too young to remember a two-parent household. I’m a child of divorce who didn’t have to go through the split process… but I *did* have 18 years of child support legal battles, which was awful enough. I can’t imagine seeing my parents’ “sides” splashed on tabloid covers too.
For some reason I see Ben partying for a year and then quickly meeting and having a couple more kids with a very young woman.
I actually feel sorry for Garner. All those years wasted on someone who clearly did not want to be married to her. She does deserve better. She probably will turn this into a good publicity tour and benefit very much from this news.