A day after it was reported that Ben Affleck had finalised his divorce from Jennifer Lopez – six months after the pair announced their split in August 2024 – the star was spied pulling into the driveway of first wife Jennifer Garner’s home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, on January 7.
Affleck was fleeing his $32 million Pacific Palisades mansion after being evacuated during the Los Angeles fires, staying with Garner and their three kids – Yale University student Violet, 19, Fin, 16,
and Samuel, 12 – before being allowed to return home.
A source told Page Six the amicable co-parents “are closer than they’ve ever been since their divorce, particularly since Ben’s divorce from Jennifer [Lopez] and with the LA fires and everything going on”.
The former couple, the source added, “have found themselves leaning on each other more than ever … They really do have a close bond.”
Putting their kids first is nothing new for the duo, who even during Affleck’s two-year marriage to Lopez worked hard to seamlessly blend their families.
“[Garner is] an amazing co-parent,” Lopez, who shares 16-year-old twins Max and Emme with ex Marc Anthony, gushed to Vogue Magazine in November 2022. “They work really well together.”
Likewise, Affleck is friendly with Garner’s beau, businessman John Miller, who the actress has dated on and off since 2018.
“Ben is super down-to-earth, and so is John,” a source has told Us Weekly. “They have a mutual respect for each other.”
Affleck and Garner’s relationship has only sweetened in the years since their split in 2015 after a decade of marriage.
“The biggest regret of my life is this divorce,” Affleck told The New York Times in February 2020, admitting that his drinking was primarily to blame for their downfall. “Shame is really toxic … I started drinking more and more when my marriage was falling apart … My drinking, of course, created more marital problems.”
Post-split, Garner, 52, who was photographed driving Affleck, 52, as he went into rehab for the third time in 2018, has always prioritised helping her ex stay on the straight and narrow.
“The reality is that Jen needs Ben to be healthy for the sake of their kids,” a source told Life & Style Magazine. “She’ll never give up on him, or else she’d feel like she was letting their kids down.”
In November, Affleck and Garner spent their Thanksgiving together, handing out meals in downtown Los Angeles before dining together as a family. They also reportedly spent Christmas together.
“Even though Ben and Jen have been split for a while now, he feels a certain level of comfort with her,” another insider told Page Six in December. “Ben has a strong relationship with Jen that will never dissipate because they have a lot of history together.”
And they’re both hopeful for the future. “[They] know not all exes get along as well and they feel very grateful that they have such an amazing relationship,” the first Page Six source said. “Over the years they’ve really built a close friendship and are on the same page in a lot of ways.”
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