People Magazine just released their new cover story and it features a closeup of Jennifer Garner’s face and the title “Inside Jen’s Heartbreak”. This is disappointing to me. If you’ve been following our coverage of Garner, you’ll know that I used to buy her “normal mom” schtick and think that she was just doing her thing when the paparazzi caught her out with her kids. Kaiser has always been skeptical of Garner, and it took this breakup for me to realize that Kaiser (and Lainey) were right: Garner plays the press and she has exacting control of her image. In this case, Garner has overplayed her hand. Yesterday there was a People story that she’s “like a supermom,” and “so down-to-earth” (the source’s exact words) and today there’s this cover story, straight from her PR team, about how she’s coping now that the news is out that Ben cheated with the nanny. It’s too much, and she should have stepped back and let the photos of Ben leering at the nanny speak for themselves.
Instead, we have this article that spells out what people were already saying about her and tries to cement her role in this whole triangle with the young, ambitious nanny. Only to me it just makes her seem calculated and not as betrayed as she’s claiming.
Several sources tell PEOPLE that Garner found out while in the Bahamas that Affleck had been having an affair with the couple’s nanny Christine Ouzounian for months – an allegation Affleck strongly denies. The couple announced their split on June 30. “There was always a speck of doubt in Jen’s mind about separating but that’s now gone,” says a friend. “She is very angry. To Jen, this is the ultimate betrayal.”
Hired by the couple last spring, Ouzounian, who had nannied for Neil Patrick Harris as well, “was very caring and loving toward the kids,” says an L.A. source. But when Garner began filming Nine Lives in Canada, Ouzounian began spending more time with Affleck and “dressing a bit more inappropriately” around Affleck, adds the source.
Multiple sources have told PEOPLE that Ouzounian told friends she was sleeping with Affleck and would often meet him at the exclusive Hotel Bel-Air. (“Not true,” says a source close to the actor, who maintains that Affleck and Ouzounian had a “work relationship and a friendship. Ben’s friendly, but it’s not always meant to be flirty.”) Ouzouzian’s friend says that “for Christine, it was a real relationship. They had even talked about plans for celebrating his upcoming [Aug. 15] birthday.”
As she copes with the painful split – “to Jen, Ben has reached a new low,” says Garner’s friend – the actress is getting support from her friends and family and remains focused on their three kids, Violet, 9, Seraphina, 6, and Samuel, 3, who are in Atlanta with her while she films Miracles from Heaven. “It’s obvious that she’s having a terrible week, but it hasn’t affected filming,” a set source told PEOPLE after news broke of the alleged affair, adding that Garner was offered a few days off but refused.
“This is not anything she wanted as an outcome for her family or her marriage,” says a friend of the actress. “But everyone is rallying around her.”
Maybe you guys were right. Maybe she is Amazing Amy. However, if everything went down like this, if she tried to control the message and consciously uncouple up until the twist where the nanny came in, she could possibly just be trying to make PR lemonade. She just put way too much sugar in the mix and we can taste it. Don’t get me wrong, I do feel sorry for her, I just don’t want to be told how to feel.
photo credit: FameFlynet
‘Whew!’ – said Wonder Woman
And a bunch of other ex-nannies/staff members/friends/neighbours/coworkers
/baristas/everyone!
and Olga Kurylenko and assorted Casino girls
And cocktail waitresses and hotel receptionists and the list is never-ending!
and Denise from Marketing…
That DAMN Denise!
… and Whitney Cummings.
And Betty White !
I thought Denise was seeing Kermit? Or is that a rebound for both, not just him?
Ben says he couldn’t live up to her expectations. He gets the bad rap in all this but I don’t think he’s totally to blame. She wanted to be off making movies too. Neither one of them wanted to look after the kids for weeks on end. The photos where he’s smiling with the Nanny were taken after the story broke and are no big deal. They weren’t taken during a “rendezvous.” It’s really speculation on everyone’s part as to whether they had a thing. I don’t know why Ben and Jen became parents. They don’t really have time for kids when they’re away on location making movies. The third kid was to try and shore up their marriage but it didn’t work.
Um…what? According to IMDB she made one film in 2008, 2 in 2009, one in 2010, two in 2011, 2 in 2012, 1 in 2013. Even allowing for two month shoots (unlikely), she’s still spending 8-10 months at home every year.
Wait- When did Gwen and Gaven split???
Ben’s a douchebag and so is the nanny.
She always knew he was a douchebag, so I’m not that sorry for her.
And Jennifer Garner just needs to start getting over it. Good Lord, I’m tired of seeing this woman’s face. You would think she is the only woman who ever had to go through a tough breakup and divorce with kids. Just stop with the “I’m such a victim”. With Ben, she should have had at least an inkling of what she was getting herself into.
Her history notwithstanding, it’s got to be incredibly painful to spend ten years with someone, have their children, and then they not only betray you, but the kids as well by schtupping the nanny.
That’s the worst part, to me. Both Ben and The Nanny betrayed those kids’ trust in a huge way. Imagine going to school and having your peers tease you because your babysitter broke up your parent’s marriage. I feel absolutely horrible for them, and the fact that their father would put them in this position is inexcusable.
I totally agree. No kid needs that kind of crap. Someone needs to Gibb’s smack Ben.
I think at this point it’s out of her hands. The press already has her as the every girl, the perfect mom. They’re selling these magazines to her audience, to people that already feel connected to her. People magazine doesn’t need her approval or permission or exclusives. It’s beneficial for them to run these stories because her fans, their customer, are eating it up.
Eh People mag is pretty much written by the PR firms; this is very much in her hands.
My thoughts exactly. They’re trying to sell magazines. I’m not seeing what JG is doing wrong here.
She can practically do no wrong. Unless it is discovered that she is doing what he has been caught doing, she is golden.
Haha As I am typing this, my mom, who is over my house and reading the paper, is telling me about poor Jennifer Garner. Yep. She is golden.
Yeah, at this point she can just sit back and let Ben look like the douche lord that he is.
She could be the wicked witch of the west, and affleck would still be a first class douche a-hole, with a dumb sidepiece trying to milk the celebrity machine dry.
Yep.
^^^This^^^
She could be our most hated celebrity, but next to him, she is ready for sainthood!
Garner has lived in Hollywood for a long time. It still doesn’t make sense why she would hire this hot nanny. Something’s not adding up.
Seriously? That woman is not hot. She is cute with nice hair, but a bit stumpy. Those photos of them together – yes, he looks happy to see her. But he is keeping a careful distance from her. I don’t see that anything physical had happened between them (yet) at that point.
I’m so glad I’m tall and hot, cute and stumpy is so 1980’s.
Most mistresses are RARELY as pretty as the wives (ex. Arnold’s maid). But they are ego boosters to fragile thinking men who need to feel more powerful than their partners. That’s why these men take on little unassuming nannies who think they are grand or at least tell them that.
I don’t think the nan is anything special (besides young, blond, relatively slim and not disfigured which often translates to hot in many men’s eyes) but I don’t think Jennifer Garner is pretty at all. She has that type of face that is really masculine imho. But she is in great shape and has good skin at 40+, so there’s that.
LOL @wow. That is so funny.
A cheater is going to cheat. I think it’s particularly heinous when you cheat with the woman your wife hired to take care of your children. She certainly doesn’t look irresistible. And she’s a fame whore.
Right…because hiring an older, unattractive nanny is 100% the way to go. Just ask Maria Shriver.
Uma Thurman, back when she was married to Ethan Hawke, was a stunning beauty. The nanny was not pretty in the least. I can see Uma hiring her never thinking they would get close.
He’s now married to the nanny.
I see the logic of a egotistical guy going for a lady who people won’t think is as attractive, but she worships the ground he walks on.
Am I the only one wondering whether Jen hired the hot nanny on purpose, to entice Ben? She knows how he is when he’s away from her- why not try to capture that stuff on the nanny cam to really cement the divorce terms you want? That’s my theory!
I don’t think she’d do this, because no mom would wish this kind of press coverage on her kids… They’ll never forget this ; it’ll be way more than all the zoo trips, ice cream trips, and birthday party memories. Really a shame.
You need the nanny to be stupid and narcissistic enough to do as she has, and splash it all over the media, trashing her own name on the way. Affleck is supposed to have been cheating on Garner forever, and none of the rest have been this idiotic. She would have had to rely on that for the plot to work – otherwise, she just messed her kids around with a different nanny, a horrible atmosphere, so she could pimp for Ben.
If the leak had happened without the nanny driving it – a Mini Coopering type denoument – I would buy that as a possibility, definitely. As it is, not really.
Miracles From Heaven?! Ugh Why couldn’t she be filming MILF’s Revenge or something?
Lol, that will be her next project. 😄
Nah, it’ll probably be endless dumb rom-coms, where she plays a version of the same character from here on out.
She’s done some good work though. The Invention of Lying was brilliant, although I guess her role was the bland pretty girl.
This one sounds like a Lifetime made-for-tv movie , or straight to DVD.
Gossip is overwhelmingly consumed and made by women, so this narrative makes sense. Most women will be able to feel for her, if they believe this obvious Jen Angel and Ben Devil story. Just like men would be more likely to believe a story with reverse roles.
I fully believe men and women are equal and thats why it seems to weird that in all these cases its always completly the mans fault. It can only be because the gossip media is made by and aimed towards women, most want to read about a douchebag, get angry with him, feel for her.
He slept with someone else under marriage vows. It wasn’t even an open marriage.
Don’t get me wrong, I do feel sorry for her, I just don’t want to be told how to feel
This. Enough already, If she is behind these PR pieces, isn’t that giving the nanny more fuel for her famewh0ring fire?
Rewinding to the days up to and after the split announcement — They were doing anti-breakup stories (remember the moving van in June?), pap strolls, did not wait until a Friday before a holiday to announce, Bahamas pics, etc.
When the nanny came forward, my initial thought was how THEY made her story more attention getting because of the non-stop PR of those previous weeks. And it’s not stopping, apparently. I’ve seen photos of Jen in Atlanta several times each week. It’s over the top.
I think she is responding to the story and trying to present her image. Ben picked a crazy fame obsessed nanny of his children to fool around with. Then this nanny brings it really public, and then she sues for unlawful dismissal while smiling for the camera during her pap walk. Jen is pissed. She was probably fine with the orchestrated separation, but once it became this public she let her PR people go a bit too far with the poor Jen stories, but I can’t blame her. Bad enough to have the affairs insinuated, but now you have the cliche affair with the young nanny. I’d be pissed too.
I’ve been Telling you all about this corny lady and her American Pie Picking Pumpkins at the patch dimple parade but then turning around and crying about paps bothering her sweet mommy self… didnt buy it then, don’t buy it now, but good on her to have him strung by the short ball hairs as we speak.. this couldnt have happen to a better guy
Thanks for making me think about his ball hairs, QQ buns.
I think QQ was referencing the toupee on his head.
Totally saw a pic of Garner with one of his head pubes stuck on her fake lips. I’d post it here but it might be NSFW.
Thanks, QQ, for the laughs and the truth. Corny describes her perfectly.
I too have never bought what she’s selling. Shame for the kids but I’m actually rather enjoying all this.
I see nothing wrong with the article. The ending to a marriage is devastating, and I’m sure there was already so much going down emotionally. Plus trying to squeeze in a movie in Canada, after a year of not working, because your dayum husband is working every second. She hired a nanny to help out during that time. What does Ben do, he is seducing the nanny. She comes home and sees the nanny beginning to sex it up in what she wears compared to before. It’s all held together, though, between working and dealing with children and the marriage ending. I’m sure emotionally it was beyond a sad time for her. So they take the kids on the scheduled vacation away from the media so the announcement can be made. It should be all about the kids that week and breaking the news and focusing on what’s next for the family. What does she find out on that important week? Ben is boinking the nanny not only before but right under her nose and the kids on the week they are supposed to be focused on the children and their pain when telling them mommy and daddy are breaking up.
The betrayal is huge because it was in her home, it was on a weekend that was so pivotal regarding the children, and Ben has his fling going on at the same time with an employee.
I would be mental. She was divorcing a man she loved, but, yes, Ben reached a new low even she didn’t think he was capable of and showed the utmost lack of respect, doing it all under her nose. Think of all the info he was giving the nanny that worked for Jen and what the nanny was passing back to Ben. It is a huge betrayal whether they were divorcing or not.
I think Jen has handled this with such class and I respect her because this is humiliating and I’m sure devastating at the time. Here she was in the Bahamas focused on her children’s well being and dealing with their heartbreak at the news and Ben is focused on diddling the nanny. Then the nanny later is selling it for the world to know. I agree with one thing. Whatever lingering doubt she had about Ben and the divorce, this killed that doubt.
Well said… People are just too eager to have something negative to say about how Jen handles her public persona. Public personas are brands that have to be managed. Who wouldn’t want to make themselves look good in the face of a humiliating divorce from someone you loved and hoped would change for the better?
As they say silence is golden and Sandra Bullock showed us that in the wake of a humiliating divorce, Sandra Just let Jesses hang himself. So what’s Jen excuse? she doesn’t need to make herself “look good” because the public was already on her side.
@Neah23:
Maybe Sandra didn’t say anything because they didn’t have any kids together, so she could just sit back and let the media do what they will. I think the main reason why Garner agreed to be a part of the heavy handed divorce storyline was to shield the kids, while Ben’s was to not come off as grimy as he is.
Besides why shouldn’t she maintain and protect her image, especially when people are accusing/insinuating that she purposely hired a hot nanny to trick Ben into cheating? Or comparing her to a sociopathic character , “Amazing Amy”.
Sandra Not having kids is the perfect reason why she could have said something, she would only be hurting Jesse. They not shield their kids when every time the media attention goes away they run to People Magazine with more information and puts the focus back on them.
Aniston had no kids to shield just like Bullock but that didn’t stop her from moaning to the media.
I’m with Neah23, silence is golden.
Jayna- yes. 100%. Just because she is image conscious does not mean that she is cold or heartless or as calculating as everyone is saying. She can pose for pics with her kids and care about her mom image and be completely betrayed in every way you just detailed. It’s not an either or situation.
Very well said, Jayna!
Jayna
Thing is the nanny coming out and being blamed for the divorce completely contradicts early released stories sold to all the press by Jen and Ben. Remember they have been separated for 10 Months supposedly with Ben living on the property to help the children adjust? And we were told that no cheating was involved. Now all of a sudden Jen KNEW about the infidelity all along while other sources of hers says she found out about the Nanny when she left their uncoupling family vacation. If you are already separated for 10 months then the divorce was already decided and if he is having sex with another woman, why is that a problem? Very confusing. The narrative from all three camps keep changing daily to match all three agendas. The public had short term memory so it’s easy to do this.
Jennifer Garner knew Ben cheated on J.Lo with a striped when they were engaged. And that Ben has several vices including gambling and drinking. However she ignored all of that public information and decided to marry and have children with him. She thought she is better than J.lo and Ben will change for HER. So she was either really dumb in love or had an inflated ego.
I hope BA has just a shred of decency left so that he feels the utter, boiling shame he needs to feel. Probably not. He’s probably blaming the mess on Jennifer.
I’ve always liked Jennifer Garner but I don’t see her as a total victim here. We all knew Ben cheated with Blake Lively back in 2010 and he’s been having affairs with other women for years. I think Jen should have left him a long time ago. Instead she just kept having babies – Gwen Stefani did the same thing. A cheater will always keep cheating!
She better be careful going the ‘Poor Betrayed Jennifer’ route. It will follow her forever.
http://cdn.smosh.com/sites/default/files/ftpuploads/bloguploads/sad-celebrity-jen.jpg
Lol. That link and that face – amazing.
I am dying
Dayum, Kiddo.
And I guess it’s not a bad thing that I rolled my eyes at this. Like I feel bad for her and all, but dang girl! Overkill! We already know Ben’s a douche.
Jen has known what she has for a very long time, and she still procreated with him multiple times. Ben has always been a selfish mess.
I only feel bad for the kids, who had no choice in this mess.
I don’t know if anyone noticed, Ouzounian started to copy Jen style. Her papped photos similar to what Jen is wearing above. White top and jeans.
So the nanny had previously worked for NPH and then for Jen. Famewh0re nanny probably thinks that she is going to ride her dubious fame into a glamorous new job. But her 15 minutes is almost over, there will be no new position, and she won’t have another celebrity client to nanny for. No one wants an employee who, most importantly, doesn’t do her job. But also, an employee who creates family strife, tells employer private info, and begins to believe that she is a celebrity by association.
Not only will she never get a legitimate job again, nanny or not, she also jeopardized employment prospects for her sister, who is a professional assistant/house manager (who also works or worked for NPH).
Blah blah. Poor Jen. Blah blah. Knew it when she married him, stayed in it for 10 years while he did these things and she knew it, and she continued having kids. Yes, it’s terrible what he did! But by all accounts, he was doing these things for years (ok, not the nanny, but…). She STAYED knowingly and continued on having child #2 and then #3. So, I just will never buy the “long suffering wife” story. She knew this going in and immediately accepted/took on the “parent” role to Ben – vs. wife/partner. She should have left many years ago, but she didn’t. She’s as much a part of this mess as he is – they both stayed well past the expiration date. I’m not saying she’s to blame at all. They both are. But she’s a big girl, and I don’t pity her. She stayed with him all these years, and that couldn’t have been good for the kids, but it was all ok until the nanny forced her – and all of them- into a corner. Please. Is it normal that Jen was constantly running around painting him – flying across the country to watch over him when she heard about Blake Lively? Instead of leaving? What kind of message does that send to kids? Why do we feel bad for her for when strength would have been leaving, not holding on for he better part of a decade. The People story even said Jen always had a doubt about splitting, even up until the nanny. This is why I believe Jen has always been about Ben – even up until or after the divorce announcement.
Yep and she’s still wearing that wedding ring, Saint Jen, the devoted wife! No sympathy for poor Jen from me either. Team kids.
Yes to all of this.
I agree as well.
Well said! I find it funny that suddenly the nanny is blamed for their divorce when he was having sidepiece after sidepiece for years.
She is calculating about her image but so is Ben. With a sullen man like Ben for a husband (cheater, slut, gambler, alcoholic, and possible drug addict) I’m glad she is the savvier one. Why should she be passive?
And let’s remember that Jen was “the other women” when Ben was engaged to someone else. Ben is a douch but I’m totally in the “Amazing Amy” camp. She’s cool and calculating. The kids are the innocent ones suffering while their parents pretend to keep it together on vacation and still wear their wedding rings.
Is there any evidence for that?
I’m going to repost what I said in the other Ben/Jen thread, because it is probably more approprite here.
Think back to the rumors from their “sources” before the Ben/Jen split was announced as well as the actions of Ben/Jen:
Jen pulled Ben along for pap strolls with the kids while Ben looked miserable.
Ben’s sources said he wanted to announce the divorce but was waiting on Jen.
Jen’s sources said she had enough and wanted full custody of the children.
Though I’m still not certain that Ben boinked this particular nanny, he no doubt cheated numerous times in the past. I am pretty sure that he passive-aggressively made it so that Jen would have no choice but to finally leave him.
Once Jen had really had enough, I think she did want to make it hard for him. so she waited until the 10-year anniversary mark, forced Ben out on the pap strolls, and maybe (?) even made sure he was caught in a compromising position so that she could get full custody of the kids.
And I think that Jen wore that similar white shirt/jeans outfit the day after the nanny photos purposefully, to make a clear comparison for anyone watching.
We are all being played by a well-oiled PR machine. There is much more to this story than meets the eye.
Oh, and:
1. Jen is not a supermom – she’s just a loving mother with FAR more privileges than most other mothers. She really needs no pity – she made her own bed.
2. Ben is a selfish douche who thinks way too highly of himself and his intellect.
3. Nanny is an opportunistic POS.
I said something similar below.
Finally an opinion reasonable on Ben,Jen and the nanny
“We are all being played by a well-oiled PR machine.”
This. And while I don’t think the nanny’s rogue, simultaneous, parallel narrative was exactly anticipated, I’d be surprised if they didn’t have some backup plan beforehand on the occasion one or another of the former flings were exposed.
When your livelihood involves being in front of a camera, it isn’t surprising to try to put a spin on the inevitable attention. I don’t know about JG as a person, but I feel bad for anyone who has to go through the very public defeat of a marriage failing and the humiliation of being cheated on – all while trying to remain creative and do her job on set. Not a fan of the PR and perfect mommy scenario, but I suspect this probably also involves a bit of ‘holding her head high’ and trying to regain a little control over her own story just as much as it may involve the victimization card.
Ok..I admit I’m becoming fixated on the white shirt coincidence photo ops. What does it mean? I can’t explain it. All women have this shirt in closet and it was a coincidence (don’t see this shirt in my closet). When millions see a photo of hot nanny mistress, one should adopt the same outfit as hot nanny mistress? Is it a Leanne syndrome? In reverse? Who had this shirt first? Did the shirt get left behind in the Bahamas? Dear creative readers, please help explain this mystery.
Me too. What is with the similar outfits? GAH! I am confused. What the hell is going on here? At this point I’m not even sure Ben actually “did it” with the nanny.
1. Is nanny making up this relationship for opportunity and fame?
2. Is Ben really *that* stupid?
3. Did Garner hire this nanny so Ben would hang himself?
There is so much manipulation going on here, I can’t even form an opinion anymore. It’s like all three parties are playing their angle of the game and the picture is just completely convoluted. If Garner did have a part in this People story, she needs to stop. It’s too much. And now I question everything, as Celebitchy pointed out. All of these years with the family pap strolls. Did Garner orchestrate this and than speak out of the other side of her mouth about “children’s safety?” And it doesn’t help that Ben was just in a movie that was based on two duplicitous characters who manipulate and scheme their way through their marriage. I give up. Seriously, F* it. This level of manipulation is psychotic.
@Frivolity–Am right there with you. Ben and Jen have a lot at stake where their careers and profiles are concerned. Plus divorce, to many, is about who is winning.
On another note when did “nanny” become a verb? Like, she “nannied” for NPH.
I’m with you on everything but the white shirt conspiracy!
I’ll admit it, I like JG. I don’t find her phony, or calculating, or manipulative, or any of the other negative things she’s accused of being. Yes, maybe she does tend to oversell the All-American, Apple Pie Mom thing, but I think at heart she really is like that. And I know she’s no saint, either, given her relationship past. I’m just not buying into this real life Amazing Amy, master manipulator, puppet master thing. I could be wrong, and a total sucker, but I just don’t see it.
I’m with you.
I like her too. Do I believe she’s image conscious and works at sustaining it? Yes. After all–its her life, her job, and her kids. Why shouldn’t she be? No shade from me. I think it is a natural reflection of who she is…….and she’s clear on who she is.
Do I believe she works the image as a manufactured fake façade to the degree some of the posters here seem to think? Ah hell to the no.
All this “she knew what she was getting” is true. But how many of us have fallen for the wrong guy hoping for the best, only to get fried? (raises hand and wishing I didn’t have to)
Agree. Nothing wrong with her being image conscious. And yep, many of have fallen for the wrong guy and have gotten burned.
With you on this. I was always attracted to way too many “fixer uppers.”
Ok, now I believe Jen is the one that wants the attention on her personal drama to go on. Before I wasn’t sure it was either her or Ben behind it, but now I know it’s her.
Blake and Miranda, Kourtney and Scoot, Gwen and Gavin are all be high profile splits that could have taken the attention away from Ben and Jen split, but each time it does they (Jen) keeps running to Peoples Magazine to get the media attention back on her family drama. My guess is that Jen wants to punish Ben or make him realize that without her his image is crap and maybe come back to her.
She can wear normal clothes now but the last time she was photographed with her soon to be ex husband she was wearing a hospital gown with tennis shoes to the park. That’s not someone who has any interest in her husband or marriage. She did that on purpose to embarrass and annoy him. It’s been over years.
The nanny scandal is just too suspicious. Maybe he did (and I don’t doubt for a second he has sex with lots of women) but surely the pics she set up would have shown a hug or a kiss which is how anyone would greet a lover? There was no intimacy at all. I don’t buy it.
Over this whole thing. Seriously.
I don’t mind Jennifer but this is overkill. Those photos of Ben and the nanny were plenty. Someone said she might get stuck with the Poor Jennifer label and I can see that happening.
http://cdn.smosh.com/sites/default/files/ftpuploads/bloguploads/sad-celebrity-jen.jpg
IF she were a supermom she’d keep her priority on her kids and make sure everyone in her camp kept their mouth shut.
I wonder if/when she’ll do an ‘Unsinkable Jen’ type cover like Aniston did, still she won’t get a Vanity Fair cover is it worth it to sob in front of a Good Housekeeping reporter???
All that being said I don’t think she set Ben up. I’m sure after cheating with him on JLo, and being married to him for a decade she knew he would do this to himself, I’m sure this isn’t the first innapropriate affair of his. The only difference is she isn’t cleaning up the mess for him. Ben loves self sabotage and he will screw anything on legs. This didn’t break up their marriage.
No respect for women that procreate on and on and on with men that obviously don’t love them. Go to a fucking sperm bank. Having a self-destructive parent does not go away even if your mom is Saint Garner.
The kids born in an amazing Amy scenario will have tough times regardless if mom and dad stay together or not.
Again, it was Garner’s call to get pregnant. No one forced her.
I can’t believe any of you guys thinking that ben or jen is controlling what media writes. Media knows what kind of stories that sells. There’s no use for ben or jen doing any damagecontroll because nobody cares about the truth anyway if the truth’s not juicy enough. Sure ben might have been cheating with the nanny and who wouldnt feel betrayed by that? But I hardly think jen would come out about her feelings, it’s just gossip! Why blame her for thinking her marriage might have worked? You know nothing about them accept what media choose to write. There are so many stories out now so I don’t even think they care enough to read them personally. And it’s not like jen would come out and say “hey, (don’t) make me sound like supermom or a victim!” She got other things to do I garantee… (Pardon my spelling)
Actually, she doesn’t have that many other things to do.
Why do you think these magazines have “sources” for they very-carefully procured quotations about celebs? Ben and Jen and all other Hollywood celebs pay huge sums of money to public relations firms to curate they images. None of these peoples’ images are actually much like their true personas. That’s what Hollywood is all about – and has been since its inception. I don’t mean any offense, but please do not be so naive.
I can’t believe you naive enough not to see though there PR BS.
This is coming from People Magazine so it came from her PR agent. Just like People Magazine didn’t just make up the stories about the Duggers it came from the Dugger publicist.
People magazine is the celebrity friendly magazine- it’s the place they go to tell their official side of the story. We know this because A list celebrities regularly do interviews, covers, and photoshoots with them. To see this as anything other than pure PR on Garners’ part is minivan naïveté and Jen loves you for it.
Jennifer is playing this all wrong. The answer is sometimes silence.
Ben made himself look like a jackass on more than one occasion.
I really wouldn’t let my team put stories like this out there.
She’s probably more relieved not to have to wonder who.this douche is screwing behind her back.
I actually don’t even think Jen is calculating. Except maybe when it came to Ben. I just think that she would have stayed forever at any cost in that marriage (and did for many years). And when I refer to them as Nick and Amy, it’s not because I see her as calculating – it’s more related to the GG ending – that I could see these two, as dysfunctional and completely damaged as their relationship is, ultimately staying together. Well … I always could. Possibly/maybe not now. I mean really. What is so different about this nanny situation than all the other men who have cheated with someone, including a nanny. No, it’s not good, but we’re not out here vilifying Gavin or Jude or Ethan in the same way. It’s because they painted a picture – willingly or not – of the perfect dimpled family, when they actually never were, from the very beginning – and now we’re all just so outraged. Puh-lease. They just need to take off their rings and move on now, and people will stop caring soon.
Oh dear gawd. Not another Aniston please please please.
She needs to call Sandra Bullock ASAP. Now that’s a woman who got cheated on and handled herself with class. She moved on with her life, no pity parties.
So Jen please be the Anti – Aniston or you will end up being labeled a pathetic loser, the butt of jokes on late night tv shows for the rest of your life.
I don’t believe she will end up that way for a second. She has too much pride. She’s always very funny on late night shows. I can see her hitting this head on by making it not serious and tip-toeing around it when she does her first late night appearance for a movie by having Fallon set it up and turning it into just a funny moment by addressing it in a vague, funny way, but not really addressing the seriousness of it or having to come out and state anything
Fallon: So, Jen, how was your summer?
Jen: “Uneventful, very boring. I mean, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head.” Scratches head, likes she’s trying to think back. “Nope, nothing.” All delivered with her usual delivery on those shows, kind of comical. “Enough about my boring life. How was your summer, Jimmy?”
She will have the audience laughing and eating out of the palm of her hand.
That’s how I see Jen handling it. And going about her business as usual otherwise. Eventually, she will give an interview in a women’s magazine about focusing on her children through a divorce, but will never give details regarding Ben and the demise, etc.
I completely agree with this!
How many times did Jen A make jokes about this whole thing to look like she was ‘over it’ while playing PR games? If she wanted this story to die she’d go the Sandra B or Reese W route and keep quiet about the thing.
The Affleck’s marriage was crumbling for years. There were rumours. Wasn’t there speculation of a band aid baby once? Wasn’t Affleck (hiding) anywhere but at home? Isn’t there Affleck’s equally famous friend who has his own opinion on Garner? Didn’t Garner telephone after her husband because she didn’t know where he was (hiding)? As far as I remember – and I haven’t been following closely – there was a lady in Canada and there was Emily Ratja… and there were nude pics of Blake Lively allegedly for Ben. The signs were all there and they were plentyful.
Then a young hot pretty nanny got hired. Not as stunning as the wife but perhaps… nicer? more caring? more admiring? less controlling? less pr press image control?
Nevertheless dear Jen did cling to the marriage for dear life. And no, I have no admiration for either of them as money-wise neither would end up homeless if they would split. You know at some point one simply should be honest with oneself and stop trying to mend something that is irretrieveably broken.
Yep, Nanny is a homewrecker. But then the home was wrecked already. Any ever so light push would have sent it crumbling. And Garner doesn’t deserve pity nor admiration either. She had known Affleck’s “issues” for years and helped to hide them. And now she is playing the press and that can’t be in her children’s interest either. Poor children see their father stamped as a cheater.
Judging by how Affleck smiles at the nanny and how there aren’t any pics of him smiling in that way at Jen then he is probably better off right now. I am sorry for the kids, though.
I think Jennifer is behind this whole thing. She found out Ben was banging the nanny and went to the tabloids. Then she hired someone to follow them and get pics of their “secret rendevous”. This is her revenge campaign to take Ben down. In the meantime, her camp puts out stories about how strong (but hurt) she is. As for the nanny, I believe Ben is protecting her (mostly to protect himself) because he knows what Jen is doing.
Looks like they’re ditching the “we were separated for 10 months” line pretty quickly.
My boyfriend and I had a discussion about this last night(nanny situation). He said if some attractive woman threw himself at him, he’d be hard pressed to resist and said wouldn’t you if some hot attractive man did the same and I said yeahh… I know it is a touch different when vows and children are involved, but I have often wondered, are we really meant to be monogamous? People have a hard time dealing with this because in reality, it can happen to anyone. Your husband can get it on with a coworker, your friend, you could get it on with a coworker, his guy friend etc. I fully intend to get a lot of flack for this, but I have seen both men and women cheat; it isn’t always the man.
If the only thing keeping you faithful is a lack of opportunity, then just don’t get married and have kids.
You weren’t getting my point at all. My point is celebrities have way more opportunities than the average Joe and this is why celebrities have a hard time staying together. You’d be surprised how many “in tact” appearing family’s have been unfaithful. That’s what scares everyone.
Btw, I have zero intentions to have kids, but that is my own personal choice. Sadly, many people have kids and don’t even like their partner/use them as a sperm donor, so I don’t get why what I said was so wrong, when so many others procreate I have seen for all the wrong reasons.
Andrea, exactly what point am I missing? You just stated that neither you nor your significant other would likely cheat if given the opportunity with someone hot enough. It’s a choice. Whether or not that is a deal breaker in your relationship is your own business, but you’re trying to say that cheating is inevitable if given enough opportunity, and that simply isn’t true.
Ben Affleck and other male celebrities may have plenty of opportunities to cheat, but no one is forcing them to do it. They can say no, and if temptation is too great they can arrange circumstances better, or choose to film closer to home. They cheat because ultimately they choose to, not because they have to.
I believe some people don’t really choose; they have a drunken fumble and they don’t think. I know plenty of my friends who got pregnant under such encounters and then discuss accidents, unplanned etc. Do you really think Ben Affleck thinks about hurting Jennifer Garner? Absolutely not. He is probably so off the rails when he cheats, she is one of the last things on his mind. It just seems like you act like everyone who cheats chooses poorly, sometimes stuff happens and it truly is a mistake. Some people like Ben Affleck, truly are just off the rails with everything (drinking, cheating etc). I just don’t like everyone painted with the same brush. That whole saying once a cheater always a cheater isn’t always the case necessarily.
Bridget understood your point perfectly. You are saying given the opportunity, both you and your boyfriend will cheat.
Humans have free will. Every decision, even the ones we’ve been conditioned/indoctrinated to accept, is a choice. To say a lack of opportunity is the only thing stopping you and your boyfriend, nevermind celebrities, is to deny our free will agency.
Cheating is a choice, not a helpless uncontrollable urge.
@ Andrea: “People have a hard time dealing with this because in reality, it can happen to anyone.” Well said.
@ Andrea
There seem to be two competing strategies in nature:
1. Have plenty of offspring as many fishes do. They often have dozens or even hundreds of offspring. And let the offspring raise themselves. Have as many partners as possible.
2. Have few offspring and raise it well. Monkeys, Bears, Wolves, Humans. Raise the offspring well and take care of them. Invest time and resources into them. Founding a family to do that is simply pragmatic.
Interestingly animals with smaller brains seem to use mostly strategy 1. Humans seem to do mostly 2. but apparently a bit of 1. now and then seems to work.
From my experience, we women pretty much have to rely on each other. Men truly are mainly hormonally driven in terms of randiness much of the time…most of them….not all, not always…But there is the law of gravity and there is the law of men sniffing around the hemlines. I am not relieving men o the responsibility to be truthful to your partner but also …women…must also not dance this tango. If the guy is taken, say ok if you are ever free and single in the future, maybe we can be friends, otherwise, no thank you. But so many women these days prefer to be sort of call girls, escorts, WAGs, goldigger, social climber types, they are using filled lips and silicone tits to get their moneyxxx i mean man….and they do not care if he is already taken because they have no ture moral compass nor ethical self worth. Spirituality to them is likely a Yoga pants brand name.
The problem is many women like tearing one another down rather than supporting one another. I have had so many female friends say unkind things about one another’s spouses/boyfriends (he is ugly, he is a dud etc), that no one can be happy for anyone these days it seems and I mean genuinely happy.
What is Jennifer supposed to do? Ben and the nanny created a sh*tstorm for her and her kids so of course she has to take care of herself publicly. Everything is already out there! She is dealing with an ex-nanny that won’t shut up and a cheating husband that has publicly humiliated her. She is an actress and has a brand to defend. I can’t believe people think Jen defending herself is too much. Sandra Bullock also defended herself by going to ET, People, etc…. she was not silent throughout her divorce with Jessie. No, she didn’t do a sit down interview but Sandra and her sources still talked. There is no other alternative when put in that situation.
All actors protect their image. All of them. I think she has handled everything with class so far and if she wants to set the record straight in People magazine she has every right to. She didn’t create this mess but yet she still has to clean it up.
Spot on.
😱😵😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
This sounds like a whole lot of excuses to make Jen keep running to the tabs ok.
Sandra Bullock was silence and that’s what pissed off Jesse James so much. Sandra completely iced him out, she didn’t respond to him publicly through sources , anything else or privately. That’s why he went I love you and want you back s*** talking her and having his girlfriend do the same thing.
We only got the article from People Magazine introducing Lewis, photo on the beach and photos of moving truck at her home in Texas. She was MIA for a couple of months.
I guess Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger Charlie sheen Denise Richards nasty public divorce was for the benefit of the kids right? According to you there going back and forth in the media was just to protect their images because there was no other choice.
So far the nanny hasn’t talked. Nor did Affleck. The nanny pool photos could have been papparazzi. Only Jen Garners comments reached the press.
It is all about public image. After all, they work in that kind of industry. They get work and endorsements based on their public persona. If you are not familiar with Marketing, Product Placement and Image Building, yes, you will believe this is too much. Any kind of publicity sells, bad, good, trashy, etc. These gossip mags picked JG this week with the approval of her PR team, because it is good business. You and I are here because the mags succeeded in evoking some kind of response from us. Good or bad.
Garner is smarter than Aniston and has more projects than Aniston. The interest will be diverted to some of these projects, hopefully by the media. I am not just talking about film projects. Plus, JG has 3 kids she needs to protect.
Oh, i forgot. She has a sister who works in the field of Marketing and i believe who has a Masters degree. If that is the case, yes, JG is pretty savvy. In this business, you really have to be.
What i can’t understand is the way Ben’s PR team is not handling this very well. The statement they released last week was full of contradictions.
I think we all always knew Ben Affleck has vices. And Jennifer Garner is a the girl that could make him all better. This isn’t the first time there have been rumblings of women or infidelity. I do love how life is imitating art, though – because was it just me, or didn’t everyone’s ears prick up a little bit when Fincher remarked how disconcertingly Ben can feign phone conversations?
“This is something that Ben is extraordinarily good at, when he has to cook up a phone conversation, when he has to hear somebody on the other end of the phone,” the director said on the “Gone Girl” DVD commentary. “It’s kinda stunning how …if I was his wife, I think I would be very suspicious, always, of whoever just called because he has a real gift at being able to insinuate a conversation.”
Now I’m even more confused, at this new US story:
http://m.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/jen-garner-disgusted-wont-return-ben-afflecks-calls-after-nanny-201558
So, according to this story. Jen tolerated/didn’t freak out about the nanny at first, even though she was aware of what had been going on since the spring. She only became “disgusted” at the “extent” of their relationship when Ben continued to see the nanny after Jen fired her. Um … Ok. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I’m not really buying much from Jen’s side at this point. I think she was ready to keep trying to save that marriage, even in the Bahamas. And now she’s trying to backtrack and save face since this all blew up in public. Not that I blame her – she’s been publicly humiliated. But there’s way too much spin and damage control coming from her side now.
Count me in the confused camp. I read an older article (I think it was dated June 30) that claimed Ben admitted inappropriate behavior. This was the week of the announcement / Bahamas trip, but I think it was before the pensive pics on the beach made the rounds. And definitely before the Vegas escape.
So many stories, yet so many unanswered questions.
I don’t think this is was what ended the marriage. I think he’s leaving her and the key is whoever he was with in Canada last spring(my guess Gal Gadot, or Olga K whose career would be hurt if they were public). I think Jen wanted to save the marriage and Ben was determined to announce and divorce. He probably did this under Jens nose to stick it to her for making them have to go to the Bahamas and do that photo op , and it backfired big time. Now my question is whether the Canada girl is upset over the nanny situation.
Ben is such a pig.
Oh they just need Kris Kardashian to take over and revamp this hussy into a STAR! (eye roll)
Oh, maybe this info. was also in People because Lainey mentions it in her article today too. The fact that sources say Garner was thinking about staying and trying to work things out even up to the divorce announcement in the Bahamas. See? This is very telling to me. Jen was going to stay in this marriage – never mind what had already been going on in their marriage for years already and the fact that Ben admitted to her he hadn’t been committed for several years. She only (seemingly) changed her tune after nanny-gate, and even then, only after Ben continued the nanny relationship after Jen fired her. Again, I’m really not quite sure what we’re supposed to feel sorry about here? The breakdown of a marriage over a decade? Absolutely. The three kids (who I do believe Ben will do right by)? Of course. Jen? No. I just can’t. She has been a willing and active enabler and participant in all of this over the course of a decade (excepting nanny-gate.) She was willing to endure and have kids through all of the infidelities and addictions (allegedly), but nanny-gate was the final straw? While I believe she’s sickened by nanny-gate, what does it say about her that she was willing to keep staying and procreating in light of everything else? I don’t see why I’m supposed to feel bad about that.
She can’t imagine her life without him? She can’t imagine her family unit crumbiling? I know someone who has two kids with her husband (second one husband politely asked her to get an abortion for which she refused and he felt stuck; but that’s his bad too, he got a v after the second kid was born). He pees the bed because he is such a bad alcoholic but because she came from a divorced home she refuses to have her kids not have a father in their life, even if the father is disinterested in them at most. She knows if she leaves him, he will show no interest in the children and forcing him into fatherhood I guess is good enough for her. Some women have such low self-esteem this is their reality like my friend. Do I feel sorry for my friend and thus Jennifer, yes! Have I tried to encourage my friend to leave her husband yes! Will she do so even though she aches for someone else? NO! Sometimes our choices and recklessness (like having a child with someone you barely know) lead to these life experiences sadly. But am I careful for it to not happen to me? Hell yes!
Lol I can’t understand what j.lo gain if they divorce? why she want them divorce?
That said jg don’t want to lose cheater Ben for the her cover of her image. i mean he even went down on random striper) gross. So the nanny story is true. I don’t understand j.lo camp doesn’t want that one to be true but it is IMO.
Jg like many women like her like VB for example u have to be thrown out to have u divorce him. she wants the husband regardless what he is, as long as he is doing it in private and secrative way. She would still consider not to divorce if he wasn’t that official and he stopped seeing her after . He is cheap but they forgive men like him easy while blaming the women. I mean even that much science hate didn’t get tc as much as it lookled. So ……non of it really matter to prob.
I have always called her Hollywood’s Lady Macbeth.
You know, the thing with Jennifer Garner – the thing that really rankles – is her promulgation of the perfect family in the media. A lot of us never bought it, but it really was so duplicitous and manipulative when all the while theirs was a hugely dysfunction marriage, just like we thought. Now she wants our sympathy? She was either really stupid, really naive, or really cunning to marry this Ben doucheball, but instead of lying her face off, she really should have just STFU about it this past decade!
I think there were many good years. The last couple, not good.
In 2011. “The mom to daughters Seraphina and Violet said she’s thrilled to be expecting again, but she recently identified with her character in the upcoming movie “Butter.” “I identified with her loss of identity,” she said of the character. “You identify with your career, then become a mom and put everything you have into the happiness of those kids. And though I wouldn’t change it for anything, you lose part of yourself.”
On her lasting relationship with Affleck in breakup-laden Hollywood, Garner says: “I don’t know how or why it works as well as it does. Honestly, I would do anything for that man, because I know it’s not taken for granted.”
I think she meant, “I would do anything for that man except let him fvck the nanny.” LOL
A long long time ago, there was a transparently detailed blind about Jennifer Garner meeting Ben and reading up on history and current events to be ‘smart’ enough for him. The blind went on to say that she told him ”I will never ever leave you”, as in ‘blind to the point of refusing to see’ devotion. That gives me an inkling of her denial mindset. Now it appears that Ben has finally shaken her off, not because of his terrible behavior, but because HE has finally decided that it’s over with HER. God knows she probably would have taken him back if this latest fiasco hadn’t become public. Interesting what people will put up with in refusing to see the truth. Edited to add: this was supposed to be in reply to Frivolity. 🙂
The end of a marriage is never one persons fault but I think its easy also to put the mean girl blame on Jen. I don’t think Jen is that calculated as we propose. Let this marriage end. People over played it, sure maybe. But is this lack facts. Nope.
Tinfoil hat theory: what if Jen paid the nanny to set Ben up, is paying her now to keep the story going and comes out as the winner?
They’re already overexposed. I think Jen wants to preempt any more blame stories being leaked by Ben Affleck by broadcasting the Mother Theresa image.
Garner was better off with her first husband, Scott Foley. It’s a shame they didn’t make it. Affleck was a considerable downgrade. Sure, he was more famous and all, but Afleck had exhibited douchey behavior well before Garner and even JLo entered the picture. GOOP was one of the first casualties. She went on record to say he’s got a lot of complication and needs to get himself sorted out. This was the late 1990s/early 2000s. It’s unfortunate he didn’t listen. One of the only times GOOP has ever made sense.
Jen and Ben came to my church years ago when the baby of one of her childhood friends was getting Baptized. She was sweet to all the strangers around her and you could tell it was genuine. I imagine she is doing her best to appear normal around her kids while trying to weather Bens idiotic personality. You could tell she really loved him and wanted it to work but finally couldn’t deal with Bens antics anymore.
I’m sorry, but a ‘supermom’ doesn’t have 3 kids to a cheating addict with a strong self-destructive streak. Ben’s problems are his own, but it’s not like they’ve ever been hidden. She knew exactly what he was, and she had children with him anyway. Children who will have to deal with and be affected by the messiness and dysfunction of his life forever.
A parent who actually cared about their children would have quietly and with dignity dropped him a long, long time ago. Not dragged the whole thing out until he finally imploded. Now she’s making a spectacle of it, which is terrible for her children.