As the estranged wife and best friend respectively of Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez and Matt Damon would understandably be finding casual conversations with each other a little awkward at the moment.
So when Lopez looked like she was up for a deep and meaningful with Damon at the premiere of Unstoppable on September 6, he appeared to want none of it.
An eyewitness told People magazine that she and Damon spoke for 20 minutes at the afterparty following the screening of their new movie, which he and Affleck produced and in which J.Lo stars, at the Toronto Film Festival. But the chat was apparently a little one-sided.
“Matt Damon shut down any attempt that J.Lo made to discuss Ben at the premiere,” a source told the Mail Online.
“It was her timing that was so awkward because she would have known that pulling Matt aside at the event to have an intimate talk was going to get picked up and go viral. Her whole hand on his hand was a nice touch – but he was not having any of it,” the source continued.
Despite his role in bringing the biopic of disabled wrestler Anthony Robles to the big screen, Affleck, 52, didn’t attend the event. Instead, he opted to stay home in Los Angeles as Lopez, 55, walked the red carpet, looking sensational in a sexy cut-out mirrored gown by Tamara Ralph.
Damon, 53, and Affleck have a friendship that goes back over 40 years. The childhood pals rose to the top together, co-writing and starring in their 1997 Oscar-winning hit, Good Will Hunting.
Damon has stood by his mate throughout Affleck’s battle with alcohol addiction and various trips to rehab in 2001, 2017 and 2018, as well as his first split with Lopez in 2004 and the couple’s recent break-up.
Before Lopez and Affleck’s latest split was officially announced, it was reported by the Daily Mail that Damon worried the marriage may not last and had advised his friend to “focus on his work”.
“Matt tried to warn Ben when he got back together with J.Lo that this could happen,” another source told the Mail Online. “Matt was there to help Ben get it together after their first split and he felt like this would happen again.”
With Affleck clearly wanting to avoid a nasty red carpet run-in with his former wife, Damon has been left to handle promotional duties for their Artists Equity company, putting him firmly in the middle.
In contrast to his friend and his tumultuous love-life, Damon has been happily married to his wife, Luciana, since 2005.
They’ve also managed to raise their children, daughters Isabella, 18, Gia, 16, and Stella, 13, largely out of the spotlight.
“We’ve had parallel careers in a lot of ways, ” Damon said of Affleck on the Radio Times Podcast in August. “ [But] I can’t imagine living under that scrutiny. And it’s been like that for 25 years.”
Although promotion will wrap up for Unstoppable in the coming weeks, Damon won’t be out of the hot seat anytime soon.
The trio still need to get through the release of upcoming movie musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, which they all co-produced and in which J.Lo plays the lead.
Meaning they’ll all have to be involved in each other’s work lives for some time to come yet!
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