CELEBRITY
News Update: Ben Affleck’s close pal breaks silence on rumored Jennifer Lopez split – after actor bought new $20.5million mansion amid divorce speculation…
Ben Affleck’s close friend has broken his silence on ongoing speculation the actor has split from Jennifer Lopez.
Affleck, 51, and Lopez, 55, who tied the knot in July 2022, have not been pictured together in months, with the singer marking her birthday without him and the actor buying a new $20.5million Pacific Palisades mansion after leaving the marital home.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith, 53, said the actor ‘will let him know when he’s in a good place’ as he spoke to People at San Diego Comic Con on Sunday – and revealed he hasn’t reached out to him yet, despite his wife Jennifer Schwalbach Smith’s advice.
Smith – who worked with Affleck on Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot said: ‘Obviously, he’s been going through a thing, or at least that’s what it says in the press and whatnot.
‘I, being his least trustworthy friend who’s very loose-lipped … my wife was like, “Oh, you should reach out to him.”
‘I was like, “The last person he needs to hear from right now is the guy who chats a lot”. So when he’s in a good place, he’ll let me know.’
Smith said he plans to speak to Affleck when he begins filming the next Jay and Silent Bob installment in the fall.
He said: ‘I’ll be reaching out to him. He may even come play, but I haven’t been anywhere near the situation.’
The Academy Award winner closed escrow on a new $20.5 million estate in the oceanside enclave, according to TMZ.
The home has five bedrooms and six bathrooms with breakfast and dining areas, as well as a separate family room, den, walk-in closets, media room, powder room, guest house and more amenities typical of a multi-million dollar house.
This development is the strongest sign yet that Affleck’s marriage to Jennifer Lopez, 55, may be heading toward divorce.
The This Is Me…Now artist and Affleck listed their Beverly Hills home for $68 million earlier this month, after purchasing the estate for $60 million last May, but they didn’t find any immediate buyers.
They recently spent their 2nd wedding anniversary apart amid reports that they’re living in separate homes.
As Lopez stayed in their marital home, Affleck has been living in a $100,000 monthly rental that’s just a short drive from his ex-wife Jennifer Garner’s Brentwood house.
He and Garner, 52, were married from 2005 to 2018, and they share children Violet, 18, Fin, 15, and 12-year-old Samuel.
Reports of the Affleck and Lopez’s marital woes began circulating in May after the pair hadn’t been seen together since late March.
A source told In Touch at the time: ‘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.’
One of Lopez’s LA-based friends told the Daily Mail: ‘If it is only a question of putting the work in then you had better believe that [Jen] will turn it around.
She has thrown her heart and soul into her love story with Ben and will not give it up without a fight,’ the source added. ‘From what I hear there is still a lot of love there, so there must be hope.’
Meanwhile, Lopez is currently in New York City, after recently celebrating her 55th birthday in the Hamptons.
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