BEN GOES PUBLIC WITH ‘OTHER WOMAN’!
SINCE THEY ANNOUNCED THEIR split in June 2015, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s marriage has been like Britney’s mic during her Vegas show – mostly off, but occasionally on. In March, it was reported that the pair had decided to give things another go but, by April, Jen had U-turned, and finally filed for divorce. Confusingly, earlier this month they appeared to be more amicable than ever when they were spotted on holiday together in the Bahamas.
Then, last week came news that Ben, 44, had finally moved on, when he was pictured on a date in LA with Saturday Night Live producer Lindsay Shookus, 37. Sources say Jennifer, 45, is ‘humiliated and broken’ as she deals with the fact that not only is their divorce finally imminent, but that the affair could have been going on for as long as four years.
According to insiders, many suspect that Ben first became involved with Lindsay in 2013, when he appeared on the show. It’s been reported that the pair were seen flirting together later that year at the after-party of film The Heat, while Lindsay was also still with her husband Kevin Miller, then a fellow SNL producer. The two split in 2014 and have a daughter together, born in 2013.
One source told Grazia, ‘Ben had originally told Jen he and Lindsay were just friends. In 2015, Jen found out that they had become romantically involved, but Ben insisted it was a “stupid fling”. Now that they’ve gone public it has become clear to Jen that they were in a relationship all along. She is devastated. Her friends feel as though she’d been in complete denial about it for almost four years now and it’s hit her like a ton of bricks.’
Jen and Ben married in June 2005 and have three children together (Violet, 11, Seraphina, eight, and Samuel, five) but Ben was plagued with cheating rumours until their separation. The source added, ‘Lindsay is said to have originally told Ben she was not going to leave her husband for a “casual fling with a movie star” and that a commitment had to be on the table if they were both going to eventually quit their marriages for one another. The fact that she did end up leaving her marriage a year into the affair implies that they are serious about making this work. Jen is crushed at the idea that Ben could end up marrying someone he met while still married to her. This is going to be a tough process for her.’