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We’ve seen Ben Affleck mention his ex wife, Jennifer Garner, in several interviews during his press tour for his new movie. In his interview with the New York Times, he sounded as if his divorce was much more recent than it was. He said, “The biggest regret of my life is this divorce.” He told Diane Sawyer that “divorce is very painful” and “I never wanted to be a divorced person.” He also issued a statement thanking Jen for “being thoughtful, considerate, responsible and a great mom and person.” He gave a similar quote to People Magazine about her, saying in part that they were connected because they had kids, that he’s grateful and respectful of her and that “I’m very lucky she is the mother of my children.” It sounded more like he was trying to sound like less of an a-hole, I mean we all remember the nanny, than to suck up to her specifically. Jen makes Ben look good, she always has, and he’s still relying on that. Only according to US Magazine, all of this makes Jen’s boyfriend, John Miller, uncomfortable.
Miller, 41, is becoming “uncomfortable with Ben’s interviews,” a source close to the businessman says in the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now. “John is empathetic to Ben’s struggles with sobriety, but he worries about how Jennifer has once again become the focus. … The spotlight on Jennifer is intense and Ben needs to consider her feelings before speaking so publicly.”
While Garner and Miller have been dating for two years and he’s completely supportive of her spending time with the children and Ben as a family, he is a bit worried, the source tells Us.
“John believes Ben would remarry Jennifer if she wanted to get back together,” the insider says. “John wants to marry Jennifer but knows she isn’t ready yet.”
If Jen is still with John and they’re just very good at keeping everything behind closed doors, then this makes sense. It would be hard to see your girlfriend’s ex husband talking about her so much to the press. I do wonder how much this guy is around. Jen is papped out constantly and yet she’s never seen with him. All we hear are the stories in the press, mostly US Weekly, about how they’re doing. It seems like someone who was really into Jen and ready to fit into her world would do some happy photo ops with her. Yet she’s been with this guy two years according to US Weekly and they’ve been photographed out together twice maybe. It just doesn’t add up. He wants to marry her but she’s the one who is reluctant and they’re never seen together.
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Cheap talk, Ben.
Ruined your marriage by cheating, gambling, and drinking while your wife did the hard work of raising the kids.
Yes, I have lived this and IMO it is true that he regrets losing his wife and family togetherness, but at the end of the day..too little too late.
I hope Jennifer and their children go forward in health and happiness for many years.
I got nothing for Ben.
Someone once called Jennifer Garner’s fanbase the “Minivan Majority”. Ben’s new movie about redemption through coaching an underdog sports team is marketed right at that group.
Ben is a self-destructive alcoholic who managed to drag Mr. Clean Tom Brady into his shenanigans with the nanny. We all remember the photo of her wearing his SB rings.
He was fired from the Batman franchise for his substance abuse issues. His last girlfriend was married when they started hooking up.
Yeah, he probably does regret divorcing her. Jennifer is a master at PR and he could use some good vibes right now.
“Minivan Majority” was a Lainey-ism. And Jen was queen of that majority.
The boyfriend should not fret too much about Ben. He only acknowledges Jen when he’s promoting a movie or Oscar campaigning.
Accurate.
Good point.
I was thinking ti was nice he was acknowledging all she’s done, but I forgot the movie promotion aspect.
Hopefully he’s treating her with respect and they can really be good co-parents, and it’s not all just for publicity.
Exactly. This whole thing appears to be image restoration. IMO Affleck never wanted to be married and shouldn’t be married. He likes to play around. All alcoholics deserve sympathy as it’s been proven the disease has a very strong genetic basis. But Affleck has serious personal flaws and this is all very planned out to make him look better because the suits want it before they’ll okay his projects and cast him confidently.
“He only acknowledges Jen when he’s promoting a movie or Oscar campaigning.”
When else would an actor be doing press though?!
He’s right, Ben would marry her again if she wanted to, however he has to focus on her and not on Ben. If they have a secure relationship, then he should be relaxed. He has to trust her, not Ben.
I think Ben is feeling a little insecure and he needs to get over that if he’s confident in the relationship. I see no reason why Jen would want to get married again. It wouldn’t serve any purpose really, just another legal hassle to get out of when it turns sour. Marriage is over-rated if children are not involved….which they aren’t here as he isn’t the dad.
Boy, let’s hope Jen never wants to go back to Ben–that would be a mistake. But being the father of their children makes it a family thing & more is at stake. Ben needs to move on by himself, and that could really take some time before he’s remotely ready to get serious about another woman. He should let Jen go so that she can have her life back now that she’s gone through so much with him, not to mention the cheating. He needs to stop mentioning her maybe and get on with his own life and his rehabilitation. I have no idea how deep the relationship between Jen and Miller is, but maybe it’s just too soon for her to marry right now.
Ben always uses Jen for publicity when he has a film to promote.
I find him to be very disingenuous, disgusting & self-serving.
Ben had a beautiful family, and threw it all away. No pity for him at all.
This is so true. Whatever happened to the real love of his life Lindsey Shookus? Oh yeah, she doesn’t fit into this movie promotion narrative. He erased her.
They’re trying to rev up interest in JG and this boyfriend. I don’t think many people care.
Actions speak louder than words. How’s the nanny these days? Still cashing checks from the Garner-Affleck Trust?
She’s an insurance saleswoman now.
I’d feel ways of my boyfriend felt ways about my ex saying some bland, super obvious, not at all personal shit about me in the course of conducting the business that keeps us all paid.
Ben’s statements are nothing you couldn’t say about most mothers and all that flattering ish keeps Ben working. And keeping Ben working is part of what keeps him from relapsing and embarrassing his children in public.
And yes, Garner has her own money, and yes, no one is responsible for Ben’s sobriety but Ben.
But this is all of their lives and public profiles.
What he wants is to get adopted by her again.
I really don’t agree with most of the above comments. And I think this story is purely fabrication. I don’t see John, a CEO of a technology company/burger chain being very uncertain about his relationship with Jen.
E! just did a story about her and John and their relationship, “Jen is focused on her kids and prioritizes them,” the source said about Garner. “That will never change and that’s really what her life is about. She’s busy with work and kids. There’s not a lot of time for an intense serious relationship. It is what it is for now. But if she can see John and it works, she’s very happy to do that. He makes her happy and her time with him is always well spent.”
No offense to Jen, but that sounds to me like someone is on their way out. Why are they even together? It sounds like casual sex to me, but I’m not in their relationship. If someone I “love” runs to a media outlet and says the quote above, I think i’d be on my way out the door. I get the whole “there’s kids involved”, but if you really love someone you’ll make it work.
As for Ben, he’s always been super all-about-Jen and him co-parenting. He does this during every movie promo period. He never said I want to get back with her. He’s said he wants to find love again, he wants to be in a committed relationship with someone. Yes, he did say that he regrets the divorce, but I take it as, he now has the stigma of a divorced person, and he didn’t want to put his kids through that. Both of which he never wanted. Him and Jen are never getting back together, and I really don’t think he would ever want to. Nor would she. They seemed toxic, passive aggressive with one another, and co-dependent together.
Maybe I’m completely wrong?
I feel like I just read my own words. The media has of course jumped all over what he said and is twisting it into some kind of potential reconciliation narrative. I never read what he said as in any way implying he wants to get back together with Jen. I read it as: the divorce is his biggest regret because they have kids and they were hurt, because it means a family was broken up, and because it means his life didn’t turn out in the way he thought it would. My dad still says that about his divorce with my mom, and yet he’s been happily remarried for years and they have a child. He has huge regrets about it because it didn’t work out, and that hurt me and my brother. But would he want to be married to my mom again? No.
As for John Miller, I’m not buying that it’s anything serious, if it exists at all. There’s just something off about it.
Of course Ben only talks about this stuff when promoting a movie, when else would he be sitting down with press outlets? His comments about Jennifer have been really innocuous and bland. ‘Divorce is painful .. Co-parenting is important… Jen’s a great person.’ He’s talked about being ready for a new relationship in multiple interviews, which doesn’t jive with the accusation that he’s trying to win Jennifer back.
By inserting himself into it, John has made it this a bigger story for Jennifer and he also comes across as petty and insecure.
While I totally get that addiction causes self destruction, he totally fucked up. Jen is the perfect wife and mother. I wish they could have made it work.