Amid ongoing rumors that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are having difficulties with their marriage, Afflek’s ex-wife and mother to his children, Jennifer Garner, is “encouraging Ben to work on his marriage to Jen,” a source told Us Weekly.
The source added: “[Garner] fully supports their relationship and wants nothing more than for him to be happy.” The reason why is that although their marriage didn’t work and Garner considers Afflek “a complicated guy,” the two have always been very cooperative when it comes to their children, Violet, 18, Fin, 15, and Samuel, 12.
Further, it has been reported by some media outlets that it was Lopez herself who turned to Garner for help as she feels like Garner is “one of the only people in the world who would understand what she is going through.”
A source told the Daily Mail: “[Garner] has been through it with the same man herself and although the circumstances were quite different… they both dealt with some of the same issues.”
Garner and Affleck split up in 2018, and the 52-year-old actress started dating businessman John Miller. While she has moved on romantically from her ex-husband, she considers Lopez a stabilizing influence in his life and wants to help save their marriage.
“Jen does not want Ben to pull the plug on this marriage because she really does care about JLo,” an insider told the Daily Mail. They added that Garner “did go to his house to talk to him about this and to try and keep the two of them together.”
“JLo was told several times by Jen how valued she is in all their lives,” the source added. “She is one of the only women who can get through to Ben and keep him from jumping off the deep end with his addiction.”
Back in 2020, Affleck admitted in a New York Times interview that his drinking had worsened his “marital problems” with Garner.
“People with compulsive behavior, and I am one, have this kind of basic discomfort all the time that they’re trying to make go away,” he said at the time. “You’re trying to make yourself feel better with eating or drinking or sex or gambling or shopping or whatever. But that ends up making your life worse. Then you do more of it to make that discomfort go away. Then the real pain starts.”
“It becomes a vicious cycle you can’t break,” he continued. “That’s at least what happened to me.”
Earlier this week, Affleck was absent from the premiere of his wife’s new movie, Atlas.