Jennifer Lopez has found a friend in Jennifer Garner amid her marital woes with Ben Affleck.
Garner, 52, has “been really friendly” with Lopez, 54, as she navigates a bumpy chapter with Affleck, 51, a source exclusively tells Us Weekly.
“She’s been helpful to J.Lo, and they’ve been relating to each other. Jennifer has been a surprising person for J.Lo to talk to,” the source tells Us about Garner becoming an “unexpected ally” to Lopez.
Garner was married to Affleck from 2005 to 2018 and they share three children: Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12. The ex-spouses have remained amicable since their divorce, and Garner has “been supportive” of Affleck during his difficult time and “prioritizing his well-being and their coparenting relationship.”
Rumors started swirling about Lopez and Affleck’s marriage in May after eagle-eyed fans noticed the pair had not been spotted together in 47 days. A source exclusively told Us at the time that Affleck had moved out of their Los Angeles mansion “several weeks earlier.”
Lopez and Affleck, who wed in 2022, have had a difficult time seeing eye-to-eye as they decide what’s next for their relationship. (The couple previously dated in 2002 and broke off their first engagement in 2004.)
“They can’t get on the same page [and] have been discussing divorce as an option,” a separate source exclusively revealed in the latest issue of Us Weekly.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
In addition to their relationship, an insider told Us in June that the couple is selling their Los Angeles home, which they purchased in March 2022 for $86.7 million, causing even more tension.
“Jennifer is distraught. She wants to sell their house off-market to try and get less attention surrounding it,” the second source told Us, claiming that “Ben doesn’t care about the negative attention” because “he’s been through this before and it doesn’t faze him.”
Amid the difficulty in her personal life, Lopez has been trying “to figure out her next act,” a third insider disclosed to Us. Things came to a head for Lopez professionally when she announced on May 31 that she was canceling her This Is Me … Now Tour to spend more time “with her children, family and close friends.”
The estranged couple has reunited a number of times amid their marital woes to support their blended family. (Lopez, for her part, shares 16-year-old twins Max and Emme with ex-husband Marc Anthony.)
Lopez and Affleck reunited for Violet and Samuel’s respective graduations in June. On Father’s Day, Lopez gave a shoutout to Affleck, calling him “our hero” via Instagram.
Days after Lopez’s sweet message to her husband, Affleck appeared on Kevin Hart’s talk show, Hart to Heart. He opened up about what it was like to deal with Lopez’s “bananas” level of fame on a daily basis.
“People love her, and she really represents something important to people,” Affleck reflected. “[To me,] people are like, ‘Hey, I like your movie,’ and then they’re like ‘AAAHHHH! J-LO!,’ It’s amazing, you know what I mean?”
After Affleck’s sit down aired, Lopez was spotted wearing both her engagement ring and wedding band during the 4th of July weekend in the Hamptons. Though solo, she rocked the diamonds in a series of garden photos she shared via social media and when she was snapped riding a bike in the Hamptons.
