Affleck ‘was having affair for 3 years’

DATING Ben Affleck BEN Affleck is claimed to have started his affair with girlfriend Lindsay Shookus a year before he and wife Jennifer Garner split.

The Oscar-winner for Argo and Lindsay, 37, went public last week, going out for dinner in Los Angeles.

Affleck, 44, has appeared six times on US show Saturday Night Live, where Lindsay is a producer.

A source close to Affleck and Jennifer, 45, claimed in Us magazine the affair had begun three years ago.

They added: “They met up whenever they could.”

But another source told the magazine the pair had dated just three months, saying: “Lindsay was not what ended the marriage.”

The couple, who filed for divorce in April, spent the July 4 holiday together with their three children.