Ben Affleck Looks Somber as He Attends Daughter Violet’s Graduation Party Without Jennifer Lopez
Ben Affleck cut a somber figure as he arrived at daughter Violet's high school graduation party on Monday, May 27, without wife Jennifer Lopez amid the couple's marital woes.
The Argo star, 51, arrived at the Los Angeles bash wearing jeans, an untucked white shirt and a tan sport coat while looking glum and failing to crack a smile as awaiting paparazzi photographed him walking alone past a line of cars to the bash.
Ben wore his wedding ring from Jennifer, 54, to his daughter's big event. He has been photographed several times going without the band on outings as the pair have been living apart.
It was a major milestone for the Air star's family, as his eldest child, Violet, 18, graduated from high school the week prior and will be off to college in the fall.
Ben's ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, shared Violet's big news in a May 20 Instagram post. “Tell me you have a graduate without telling me you have a graduate," she captioned a series of Instagram photos, including one of her looking teary while standing and applauding inside an auditorium and another outside wiping tears from her eyes. Ben was not seen in any of the pictures.
J. Lo was back in Los Angeles after a trip to Mexico City, Mexico, to promote her new Netflix movie, Atlas. She was photographed on May 24, running errands in a white sweatshirt and matching pants with her husband nowhere in sight.
During an Atlas panel in Mexico City, Jennifer had to shut down a reporter's question about the state of her marriage to Ben.
“You know better than that,” the Maid in Manhattan star replied to a reporter who asked her if the rumors about her marital woes were “true.”
On May 15, a source exclusively revealed to In Touch that Ben and Jennifer were “headed for a divorce.”
“The writing is on the wall – it’s over,” the insider said. “And for once, [Ben’s] not to blame!”
“He’s focusing on his work and his kids now,” the source continued. “Ben already moved out and they’ll likely have to sell the dream house they spent two years searching for. They’ll never stop loving each other, but she can’t control him, and he can’t change her. There’s no way it could have lasted.”
The Gone Girl star raised eyebrows when he failed to attend the May 6 Met Gala with Jennifer, who was a co-chair of the event. Her participation in the high-profile ball had been announced months earlier.
“Ben not being at the Met Gala with Jen, even though he’s got a great excuse, he’s working, is causing more questions than either of them want,” an insider exclusively told In Touch the following day. “Even the red carpet fashion commentators were confused, thinking Ben would be right behind Jen, but nope, she went solo, which shocked a lot of people.”
On May 14, Jennifer was photographed house hunting in Beverly Hills without Ben, even though the pair dropped $60 million on a palatial estate in May 2023. He was snapped two days later leaving a Brentwood, California, rental home.
The duo reunited for the first time publicly in 47 days on May 16, when they attended his child Fin’s school play together. They also reunited on May 19 to support her child Emme at a school event. Ben and Jennifer were later photographed going to dinner together at the Soho House in West Hollywood, although that was the last time they were seen together in public.
Ben and Jennifer got back together in April 2021, shortly after her split from then-fiancé Alex Rodriguez. The pair eloped to Las Vegas in July 2022, followed by a formal wedding in August 2022 at Ben's Georgia estate. The duo was previously set to marry in September 2003, but called off the wedding at the last minute and broke up in January 2004.
