Affleck celebrates Sexton romance
Ben Affleck isn’t wasting any time.
Just days after announcing he had finished his third stint in rehab, and news broke that he and Jennifer Garner had finalized their divorce, the actor whisked his 22-yearold Playboy Playmate girlfriend Shauna Sexton off on a trip to the Rocky Mountains in Montana.
Affleck and his new girlfriend weren’t shy about letting the world know they are an item, with Sexton posting a series of photos on Instagram that showed their drive Sunday through snow-capped mountains and their hike to a creek, where Sexton caught a trout. The social media photos amounted to as close as anything to confirming that their relationship is getting serious, Page Six noted.
It’s true that Affleck, 46, mostly avoided being photographed in Sexton’s photos. However, he did allow himself to be seen, his face from the side, gazing out a car window at the scenery.
The Montana drive came just three days after it was reported that Affleck, Garner and lawyers met at Garner’s house to finalize their divorce. It also was less than a week after Affleck announced on Instagram that he had finished a 40-day stint in rehab and fewer than two months since it was reported that he had broken up with his longtime girlfriend, “Saturday Night Live” producer Lindsay Shookus.
Affleck’s decision to jump so quickly into a new relationship possibly raises eyebrows in the substance abuse treatment community. There’s a long-held belief that people should avoid new romantic or sexual relationships in the first year of sobriety. Sure, there are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to how recovery works for any one individual. But even The Canyon, Affleck’s rehab center in Malibu, advises against jumping into new relationships at this stage of recovery.
On its website, The Canyon offers these thoughts on the wisdom of avoiding new entanglements: “The primary focus of your time and energy should be on rebuilding a relationship with yourself during this time period.”