Ben Affleck finally feels ready to start dating again after his public breakup with Jennifer Lopez, but he only wants to date women who are sober, insiders claim.
The recovering alcoholic, 52, rekindled his romance with Lopez, 55, in 2021, but the couple filed for divorce in August after months of speculation that their marriage had collapsed.
Affleck reportedly struggled with the “harsh” consequences of their split, which served to show him how important it is to never jeopardize his sobriety.
“Ben hasn’t given up on relationships and finally feels ready to move on and start dating again,” an exclusive source told DailyMail.com.
“He’s not going to do anything serious until the divorce is finalized, but that doesn’t mean he can’t date.”
Ben Affleck finally feels ready to start dating again after his public breakup with Jennifer Lopez, but he only wants to date women who are sober, sources tell DailyMail.com.
They continued: ‘He only wants to date someone who is sober or in recovery. These last two years have been difficult for Ben and as he begins to heal, one thing is very clear: his recovery comes first. It’s not going to jeopardize your sobriety.
After Affleck moved out of the $68 million mansion he shared with Lopez and into his own rental bachelor pad in Brentwood, California, his friends feared he might relapse as a result of the strain of such a public split.
DailyMail.com reported at the time that Lopez turned to the actor’s ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, for help, as she was one of the few people who could offer him advice.
Affleck was reportedly upset by the news that people feared he would relapse after a long period of sobriety.
“Ben tries to avoid reading the news, but it bothers him that people think he relapsed because he didn’t,” the source said.
‘Like any alcoholic, Ben wakes up with a goal in mind. To stay sober that day.
Affleck has been open about his battle with addiction and first stopped drinking in 1997.
“I just wanted to stop,” he told a reporter in 1998. “I started to regret some things I did when I was drunk. It’s funny to be nasty or out of control, but then it’s like, ‘I think I hurt that person’s feelings.’ person”, “I made a fool of myself” or “I didn’t want to kiss that girl”. I have almost no inhibitions, so it’s dangerous for me.’
The recovering alcoholic, 52, rekindled his romance with Lopez, 55, in 2021, but the couple filed for divorce in August after months of speculation that their marriage had collapsed.
He sought treatment for alcoholism in 2001 and went to rehab again in 2017 and 2018, after Garner, with whom he shares children Violet, Seraphina (who now goes by Fin) and son Samuel, organized an intervention with the help of a sober coach. in his house.
Speaking to The New York Times in 2020, he explained: ‘I drank relatively normally for a long time. What happened was that I started drinking more and more when my marriage was falling apart.
“This was in 2015, 2016. My drinking, of course, created more marital problems.”
He admitted that feeling “trapped” during his marriage to Garner played a role in why he started drinking.
The Gone Girl star went on to tell The Hollywood Reporter: ‘The idea that I was blaming my wife for my drinking. To be clear, my behavior is entirely my responsibility. What I was trying to say was sad.’
He continued: “I was trying to say, ‘Hey, look, I was drinking too much, and the less happy you become, whether it’s in your job, in your marriage, it’s just that as your life gets harder, if you’re ” Doing things to fill a void that aren’t healthy, you’re going to start doing more of those things.” I think I was pretty eloquent about that.’
The actor explained his thought process during those dark times and recalled, “You know, I thought, ‘I can’t leave because of my kids, but I’m not happy.’ What I do?”.
“And what I did was drink a bottle of whiskey and fall asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution.”
“He just wants to date someone who is sober… These last two years have been difficult and as he begins to heal, one thing is very clear: his recovery comes before anything else,” sources said.
Lopez and Affleck got engaged in the early 2000s before breaking up, only to reunite (and then marry) in July 2022 before holding another ceremony a month later.
Their initial two-year romance was highly publicized and the intense scrutiny over their relationship was difficult for the couple to handle.
Lopez filed for divorce in August, marking what would have been their second wedding anniversary. Their official separation date was listed as April 26, 2024.
The On the Floor singer finally broke her silence about her failed union this month, describing her heartbreak as “sad” and “scary” in a saucy shoot with Interview magazine.
Lopez, who did not name Affleck, added that she is “not looking for anyone” right now and suggested that her ex didn’t accept all of his flaws.
Affleck reportedly had a brief affair with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s daughter, Kathleen ‘Kick’ Kennedy, 36, following their split.
Page six was the first to report the news after the couple was seen getting cozy at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills.
A source told DailyMail.com at the time: “Ben and Kick had an affair before he got back together with JLo. They met because Ben is from Boston and when you live in Boston, the Kennedy family is royalty.” .
The source emphasized that the couple’s romance never overlapped with the actor’s rekindled relationship with Lopez.