Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s alleged marriage crisis covers the new issue of Star Magazine. The subtitle reads “Ben Caught Cheating!” Inside, it’s clear that the article is based on Ben getting kicked out of a Vegas casino for counting cards while playing blackjack. This supposedly caused a huge rift between Ben and Jen. Star has a whole scenario worked out where Jen was humiliated and lashed out at Ben. It doesn’t ring true to me, but I would buy that things are tense. This fight sounds bogus though.
“Jen demanded to go to Vegas with Ben because she doesn’t trust him – and he felt like he had no choice but to take her,” a close insider says. “But after their dinners there each night, she would go back to their suite while Ben would stay out all night playing cards, betting thousands of dollars at a time. It makes Jen so mad, but once Ben starts gambling, he can’t stop…
“He’s constantly working, leaving her alone with the children for days and weeks at a time. She feels like a single mother…
“It’s all really taking a toll on her,” the insider says. “She constantly checks in with Ben, texting and calling him multiple times a day when he is gone, but that frustrates him and leads to huge fights. He’s great with the kids when he’s around, but he and Jen barely talk at home – and when they do it always turns into an argument.”
The scenario at the casino
During Ben and Jennifer’s April 22 Vegas outing, [Ben], 41, was caught counting cards at a casino blackjack table. “Ben was asked repeatedly to stop card counting; however, he would not stop,” a Las Vegas source says. “The casino staff told Ben that he was being too obvious. They allowed him to keep playing for a bit but eventually asked him to leave…
“Before he left the table, he grabbed a ton of chips… [Jennifer] followed him out, way behind him. She had her head down and looked embarrassed and ashamed.
“Ben lost a lot of money before he was booted from the casino, which infuriated Jen… she screamed at him, telling him he needed to quit gambling for good. But he told her that he’s a grown man and will do what he wants. Neither of them backed down for good 15 minutes. Finally, Jen just went to bed.”
Problems at home
“When Jen confront Ben about his lack of help [at home], it turns into a huge fight… Sometimes Jen has a meltdown, and Ben will take her to see her therapist, but really, he only does that because he doesn’t want to listen to her whine. More often, he’ll just leave.”
[From Star Magazine, print edition, May 19, 2013]
So Star is claiming Jennifer would go back to her room after dinner most nights while Ben played cards, but in this case she was there with him. They also claim that Affleck got kicked out of the casino for losing money. That’s highly doubtful.
The way I imagine the dynamic between Jennifer and Ben, he basically does what he wants and she puts up with it, maybe with some passive aggressive prodding but not much else. I doubt Jen is screaming at Ben for gambling. As Star points out, Jen has said that she’s “conflict averse” and doesn’t like to argue. These two have faced issues in their marriage before and they’ll tell you about it. I doubt this is as serious a problem for them as Star makes it out to be, but you never know.
Kaiser calls me an Affleck Apologist, because I tend to give him a break. She thinks he’s deep in his addiction and in a downward spiral. In my (rosy) opinion, Ben is a gambling addict but at least he’s not carousing with hookers and blow (that we know of). He’s capable of much more spectacular self sabotage than being extremely good at high rollers blackjack.
The truth is probably somewhere in between, with Batfleck in the danger zone but not as far into it some might assume. I think Ben knows what a good thing he has and isn’t going to jeopardize his family. We’ll see, though. Most of us remember how he cheated on J.Lo right before their doomed wedding was to take place. Now whenever Ben gets into trouble, people wait for the other shoe to drop.
Photos of Ben and Jen together are from February and March, 2014. The photos of Jen out with the kids are from earlier this month. Credit: FameFlynet
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