The wedding was 'spur-of-the-moment' and Garner was informed about it just a day before, a source revealed.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck got married on July 16th, 2022. As per initial reports, only two of their children—Lopez’s child, Emme, 14, and Affleck’s Sera, 13—were in attendance. The two of them share 5 children between them. Lopez has a son, Max, 14 and Affleck has Violet, 16, and Sam, 10, who he shares with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
Affleck and Garner's relationship started in 2004 and went on for thirteen years. They were married in 2005 and had three children during their time together. Violet reportedly did not attend the wedding because she is loyal to her mom, according to Page Six. It was also reported that Garner was not given much notice about the wedding and that she was only told about it a day before.
“Ben did tell Jen about the wedding, but I’m told that it was only Friday at the earliest. It was very, very minimally planned in advance and was largely spur-of-the-moment. Violet stayed home because she’s extremely loyal to her mom,” one well-placed Hollywood source revealed.
Violet, 16, is understood to have missed Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's Las Vegas elopement on purpose, though her other siblings attended.https://t.co/R7rKOhtmpI
— 9Honey (@9HoneyAU) July 21, 2022
Garner and Affleck announced their split in 2015, and their divorce was finalized in 2018. On the other hand, Lopez and Affleck first started dating way back in 2002 and got engaged that November. They postponed their wedding and eventually called it quits in January 2004 before Affleck eventually rekindled his romance with his former girlfriend, Lopez, in July 2021.
The source also spoke about why Lopez and Affleck got married suddenly. “[Lopez] has been ready to get married since the night that Ben proposed. She wanted to lock this down and remove any chance for cold feet ASAP!”
Affleck, in an interview with PEOPLE that he began drinking because he felt like he was "trapped" in his marriage to Garner.
"I'd probably still be drinking. It's part of why I started drinking … because I was trapped," he said. "I was like, 'I can't leave 'cause of my kids, but I'm not happy. What do I do?' What I did was drink a bottle of scotch and fall asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution."
He also said that they tried to make their marriage work but in vain. "We had a marriage that didn't work, this happens, with somebody that I love and respect, but to whom I shouldn't be married any longer. Ultimately, we tried, we tried, we tried because we had kids. Both of us felt like we don't want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage," he said.
Despite their split, Garner played a very instrumental part in helping her ex-husband get over his addiction.
The 13 Going on 30 star drove her estranged husband to rehab in August 2018. He had previously been to rehab in 2001 and 2017, a 2018 article by ET Online revealed. She knew Affleck needed help and so she was there for him. She reportedly focused on her ex's health and well-being, for the sake of their three kids. "[She] was very emotional but decided to take the situation into her own hands," an eyewitness said.
A source mentioned that Garner "has never wanted him to be anything other than happy and sober and I’m sure she wishes him well [on his new marriage].”
References:
https://www.etonline.com/news/212956_how_jennifer_garner_helped_ben_affleck_turn_his_life_around
https://people.com/movies/ben-affleck-respect-jennifer-garner-amid-difficult-divorce/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photos By (L) Noam Galai (R) Momodu Mansaray/
