Just a few weeks ago, I was much more hopeful about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. While I thought they were going through a bad patch, I took hope in the fact that J.Lo seemed to want to stay married to Ben, and that she seemed to believe that she could win him back somehow. But nowadays… it looks pretty bad. How did we go from “J.Lo is trying to make Ben chase her” to “they hate each other and they aren’t even speaking anymore?” That’s apparently the state of play, at least according to TMZ:
Things are not amicable between Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck … the lines of communication are closed and it’s making it difficult to hammer out a divorce agreement. Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … J Lo and Ben are not speaking to one another — in person or over the phone — and it’s really slowing down their divorce.
Ben and Jen’s icy relationship is really the only thing preventing this from being a quickie divorce … we’re told they have a prenup and the only asset they have to divide is their Beverly Hills mansion, which is on the market.
Our sources say J Lo and Ben have NOT hired lawyers and are instead having everything go through their respective business managers, who are trying to figure out the financials behind the divorce … but it’s complicated because the principals are not talking.
TMZ broke the stories … the estranged couple’s Bev Hills estate is on the market for $68 million and Ben just closed on his own $20.5 million mansion in Brentwood, as Jen remains on the hunt for a house of her own. Ben closed escrow on the house the same day Jennifer turned 55 … that’s just a coincidence, but we do know there is no love lost between the two.
Ben and J Lo will eventually hire divorce lawyers, and we’re told no documents will be filed until they reach a settlement. They will file legal docs requesting a divorce, the judge will sign it and that will be that. But until Ben and Jen start talking again, things will continue moving at a snail’s pace.
My thing is that I simply don’t believe that any of this was about money, nor do I think the financial part of a seemingly inevitable divorce is the sticking point. The fact that their business managers are apparently doing the negotiating is WILD, but it also points to this whole thing being deeply unserious. Like… if you’re getting a divorce, grow up and hire a f–king lawyer. You’re both in your 50s, stop playing telephone games and passing messages through Benny Medina and whoever. I sort of believe that they’re trying to be super-quiet about whatever negotiations are going on behind the scenes, but I also believe that both Ben and Jennifer are incredibly embarrassed. Like, this marriage blew up in both of their faces and they both look like idiots. That’s the biggest reason for the slow-moving divorce – they’re both like “wow, our images are going to take a huge hit when we file for divorce.”
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.