Jennifer Lopez ‘Is Doing Anything in Her Power’ to Save Marriage to Ben Affleck
After not being photographed together for 47 days, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were finally spotted both attending an event for their kids on May 16. On May 30, the Oscar winner, 51, and the 54-year-old Atlas star were again reunited at his daughter Violet Affleck's high school graduation (the 18-year-old's mom, Jennifer Garner, was also in attendance).
Then, as reports of trouble in their marriage escalated, the Gigli costars, who reignited their romance 20 years after their first split and wed in 2022, managed an awkward air-kiss outside his 12-year-old son Samuel's basketball game June 2.
"It's a good sign they were at the game together," a source told one news outlet. And a good strategy.
An insider exclusively tells In Touch that J. Lo, willing to do anything to save Bennifer 2.0 — her fourth, "fairy tale" marriage — is putting their kids front and center as a way of staying close to Ben. (He also shares Fin, 15, with Jen Garner while she has 16-year-old twins Max and Emme with ex Marc Anthony.)
"Jennifer is doing anything in her power to control this situation, unpleasant as it is," says the insider. "She's going to the kids' events to show Ben that things haven't changed for her, she's still his wife, she loves him no matter what, and she loves his kids like they were her own."
Notably, she also centered the kids when she announced the cancelation of her This Is Me... Live Tour. Though the tour was dogged by poor ticket sales (five shows were previously canceled), on June 1, representatives from Live Nation omitted that fact when they broke the news, instead explaining, "Jennifer is taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends."
A "heartsick and devastated" J. Lo then told her fans, "Please know that I wouldn't do this if I didn’t feel that it was absolutely necessary."
It's no accident that the announcement — as well as her being photographed at the kids' events — fed the narrative that the Bronx native was sacrificing her career to save her family.
"Jennifer's not stupid," says the insider. "She knows that attending Violet's graduation and Samuel's basketball game makes her look good, it's also a way to stay close to Ben and their blended family."
While Ben has mostly let J. Lo have her way — though he looked miserable as photographers snapped that air-kiss — the insider says he's wary of putting the kids in the middle. To be fair, despite her desperation, Jen is also trying to be careful, especially with Emme and Fin, who have become close.
"Neither Ben nor Jen wants to involve the kids in their marriage problems," says the source, adding, "Ben's going along with it because he doesn't want to invite anymore unwanted publicity."
Ben might be keeping quiet, but his actions speak volumes. The Air star hasn't tried to hide the fact that he's moved to a $100K-a-month rental in Brentwood, California. It's really saying something when he can't find a place to himself in the 38,000-square-foot, 12-bedroom home the pair purchased for $60 million!
"That shows how miserable he was," confirms the insider. "Ben knew the marriage wasn’t working, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of renting another house."
The estranged pair's brood may face a future shuttling between them. "Ben loves his kids, he knows they care about Jennifer," says the insider. "Ben doesn't want to hurt them by hurting Jennifer, but he's got to do what's right for him."
