He estranged wife Jennifer Lopez broke her silence to describe the “sad” and “scary” end of their marriage earlier this week.
And Ben Affleck looked tense after his ex’s comments when he was spotted out and about in Los Angeles on Thursday.
The 52-year-old Air filmmaker was pictured puffing on a cigarette while talking on his cellphone on the sidewalk.
He was seen taking a walk with his youngest child, 12-year-old son Samuel.
The outing comes after an insider told DailyMail.com that Ben feels talking about his divorce from Jennifer will haunt him indefinitely.
Ben Affleck looked tense as he smoked a cigarette and talked on the phone during an outing in Los Angeles on Thursday
He looked casual in a white graphic T-shirt with slim olive trousers and a cool pair of green and brown Nike sneakers.
For his day out, Ben dressed for casual comfort with a white graphic T-shirt featuring a photo of a destroyed hotel room with the text ‘AE Unscripted’.
The low-key look accentuated his toned arms and he paired the shirt with slim, olive trousers.
He was wearing a cool pair of green and brown Nike sneakers, and he had a thick, extra-dark beard after dying it last week.
Samuel hung close to his father and wore a black T-shirt with relaxed-fit acid wash jeans and olive-white Nikes.
Even when walking with his son, Ben still looked stone-faced while talking on the phone.
Their father-son bonding took place on the same day that DailyMail.com reported that Ben feels like he can’t escape talking about his failed marriage to Jennifer.
“Ben knows she will talk about the breakup forever,” the insider said.
‘He would like her not to talk about it, but he thinks she will always speak out.
“He was given no warning that she was going to talk about their relationship, but he assumed it would happen eventually,” they continued. “It’s as much a part of his life as anything else, he’ll never escape it.”
The insider said that Affleck is “fine with whatever Jen is dealing with,” and is aware that his ex has “always been one to talk about her personal life.”
“People deal with loss and separation in their own ways, and this is what Jen had to do and Ben has to accept it,” they continued. “He likes to keep some things to himself, especially important details about their relationship.”
The On the Floor singer filed for divorce from Affleck on August 20, after months of reports that their second attempt at love had failed 20 years after their first split.
Lopez described her “damn hard” breakup this week in an in-depth conversation with Nikki Glasser, in which she opened up about her life “blowing up” in her face.
He was accompanied by his son Samuel, 12, as he took a phone call while sporting a tense expression
An insider told DailyMail.com on Thursday that Affleck feels he can’t escape talking about his failed message, including from Jennifer; pictured on January 7 in Beverly Hills
“It feels lonely, unknown, scary,” she told the comedian for Interview magazine. ‘It feels sad. It feels desperate.
“But if you sit in those feelings and say, ‘These things aren’t going to kill me,’ it’s like I’m capable of joy and happiness on my own. Being in a relationship doesn’t define me.’
When asked if she regretted anything, she replied: ‘Not for a second. That doesn’t mean it didn’t almost disable me for good. That was almost true.’
Lopez, who did not mention Affleck, added that she isn’t “looking for anyone” at the moment and suggested that her ex didn’t embrace all of her flaws.
“Someone who truly loves you will help you heal those parts of yourself,” she said. “That’s what I learned about love, that it’s something safe. You make me feel safe, and if I don’t make it to glory, you understand me and help me get better, because you have your limits and I have my limits.”
The singer posed topless in a leopard print bikini bottom and matching gloves for the publication’s 55th anniversary special.
Affleck failed to crack a smile days after the interview when he was photographed in Los Angeles scouting a location for his next project.
Lopez and Affleck were famously engaged in the early 2000s before splitting, only to get back together — and later get married — in July 2022 before holding another ceremony a month later.
Their first romance of two years was highly publicized and the intense scrutiny of their relationship was difficult for the couple to handle.
In her music documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told, which was financed and produced by Affleck’s Artist Equity, she said: ‘Ben and I broke up three days before our wedding and we buckled under the pressure. You think you’re doing fine, so you shrug your shoulders.’
During their reconciliation, two-time Oscar winner Affleck admitted that he had no interest in becoming a fixture on his wife’s social media accounts.
Fears for the now estranged couple first surfaced in May when it was revealed they had not been photographed together for 47 days.
Lopez only attended the Met Gala and her film premiere for Atlas.
“He would like her not to talk about it, but he thinks she will always speak out,” a source told DailyMail.com; pictured together in November 2023 in Las Vegas
Speculation later reached a fever pitch when Affleck moved out of their $60 million Californian mansion into a $100,000-a-month rental home near his ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
Just weeks later, the house was quietly put up for sale for $65 million and the couple began selling artwork from the mansion.
They reunited for the first time since announcing their divorce and joined their children at the Beverly Hills Hotel last month.
Affleck shares Violet, 18, Finn, 15, and Samuel, 12, with Garner, while Lopez has 16-year-old twins, Emme and Max, with ex-husband Marc Anthony.
