Divorces are bound to get messy sometimes – especially if there are children involved.
And if you’re part of one of Hollywood’s most famous ‘it-couples’, things could easily get even more complicated.
Ben Affleck, 52, famously rekindled his romance with Jennifer Lopez, 55, in 2021, nearly 20 years after they called off their engagement.
Fast forward four years and the couple, who showcased their love with two weddings in 2022, have settled their divorce and officially ended their short-lived marriage.
While they finalised their divorce last month, further questions are raised about what will happen to their blended family.
Despite the actor and pop-star not often being seen together since last summer, both have been spotted out with their stepkids in what seems to be a bid to keep the familial ties together.
JLo in particular appears to have kept a strong bond with Ben’s children, and his daughter Violet, 19, was even visited by the singer’s sister in Yale over the fall.
Meanwhile in December, Ben reunited with both his exes – Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Garner – to watch his child Fin, and JLo’s child Emme, both of whom are 16, in a school play.
Ben Affleck, 52, famously rekindled his romance with Jennifer Lopez, 55, in 2021, nearly 20 years after they called off their engagement. Fast forward four years and the couple, who showcased their love with two weddings in 2022, have settled their divorce and officially ended their short-lived marriage
Ben and JLo were even spotted exchanging Christmas presents with one another.
The couple, who married in July 2022, have five children from previous relationships and gone to great lengths to make them feel like a family unit.
The Jenny from the Block singer shares Emme and Maximilian Muñiz, 16, with ex-husband Marc Anthony while Ben welcomed Violet Affleck, 19, Fin Affleck, 16, and Samuel Affleck, 12, during his 10-year marriage to Jennifer Garner.
At the couple’s lavish Georgia wedding, which took place at their £8.9 ‘plantation’ estate, Ben and Jennifer’s children walked down the aisle with the bride.
The pair also whisked their children off to Paris to join them on their honeymoon and were pictured enjoying a boat trip along the Seine.
After officially tying the knot at a Las Vegas chapel that July, Ben and Jennifer threw a wedding reception at their Georgia estate the following month.
The pair’s five children were pictured walking down the aisle behind the bride – with J’Lo’s twins holding her veil.
However, despite attempts to hold the fort down, it appears cracks may be emerging as Ben and Jen Garner’s eldest has reportedly felt like she was ‘used as a pawn so to speak during her dad’s split’.
Here, FEMAIL looks at Bennifer 2.0’s attempts to save their children from the brunt of their separation…
‘Left feeling like a pawn’
Despite attempts to hold the fort down, it appears cracks may be emerging as Ben and Jen Garner’s eldest Violet (left) has reportedly felt like she was ‘used as a pawn so to speak during her dad’s split’. Pictured with Ben and JLo in 2022
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck‘s daughter Violet chose to take a step back from her former stepmother, Jennifer Lopez, after being left feeling like she had been a ‘pawn’ during the pair’s divorce, an insider has claimed.
When Ben and JLo separated last summer, Violet raised eyebrows after choosing to join the singer for a stay in the Hamptons, as well as posting about the hitmaker’s sister Lynda Lopez paying her a visit at Yale university.
Insiders noted that the move came as a surprise to her parents, who had been left confused by the 19-year-old’s actions at the time.
Now, sources have revealed that in the months that led to the divorce being finalized in January, Violet started to question whether there had been ulterior motives for keeping her close.
‘Violet felt like she was used as a pawn so to speak during her dad’s split from JLo,’ an insider exclusively told DailyMail.com.
They explained how Garner was careful not to try and limit her daughter’s connections to Lopez’s family as they noted: ‘Jen supported her daughter getting close to the singer because she always puts her children first.
‘But as the divorce loomed, the fact that Violet was hanging out with JLo and wearing her clothes was odd to the family. So too was Lynda Lopez visiting Violet at college.’
The source continued: ‘But Jen even let this slide, because she wants Violet to be happy and respects that, as an adult, she can choose who to spend her time with even if Jen does not necessarily agree.’
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck ‘s daughter Violet chose to take a step back from her former stepmother, Jennifer Lopez , after being left feeling like she had been a ‘pawn’ during the pair’s divorce, an insider has claimed. Pictured wearing the same dress her stepmother JLo wore in 2023
However, the source revealed that Violet has consciously chosen to cut contact with Lopez and her family after watching her father’s distress over the high profile divorce.
‘Over time Violet started to see how upset her father was that their split was at the center of everything,’ the insider explained. ‘Ben never said a word about JLo.’
The source continued: ‘Violet is highly intelligent and will ultimately always be a daddy’s girl. This is why you do not see her on public outings with JLo anymore.’
Prior to the pair’s official split, Affleck had been pictured spending a significant amount time with ex-wife Garner – who had reportedly adopted the role of ‘marriage counsellor’ to the struggling couple.
Sources close to Garner had been left feeling like she was forced to ‘play mediator’ to help the pair work through their issues in a way that would not impact Affleck’s sobriety.
‘Jen feels slightly used as a pawn in JLo’s bid to repair her marriage,’ a source told DailyMail.com at the time. ‘She doesn’t believe it was intentional. But when Jen realized her ex-husband’s marriage was past the point of salvation, her only concern was Ben’s well-being and sobriety.’
Meanwhile, Violet was seen showing support to Lopez during that time period, choosing to wear a Dolce and Gabbana dress that The Wedding Planner star wore on a Valentine’s Day date with Affleck in 2023.
Violet reportedly wore the dress as a statement to show how close she was to Lopez after being left ‘heartbroken’ at the split.
Violet previously revealed she was sticking by Jennifer Lopez after the split, with the pair pictured spending time together in the Hamptons
She the raised eyebrows last fall after Jlo’s sister Lynda Lopez shared a selfie with the Yale student after paying her a visit at the prestigious university
‘Violet does wish her dad would stay with JLo,’ the source said. ‘She wasn’t living in their house and did not see the extent of the breakdown, but she got extremely close to JLo over the past couple of years and it broke her heart when they split.’
Wants’quality time’ with blended family
Over the past three years, Jennifer has been pictured regularly on school runs and drop-offs for their five children and is said to be wanting ‘quality time’ with Ben’s children.
Over the summer, insiders told People that the singer still wants to be involved in their lives.
They said: ‘Just because she’s not with Ben, doesn’t mean that she doesn’t care about his kids. She always cared about them.’
In December Ben reunited with his exes Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Garner to watch their children perform together in a school play in Los Angeles.
After the kids took their final bow on stage, the two-time Oscar winner could be seen patiently waiting to congratulate both Fin, who he shares with Garner, and his stepchild, Emme, 16, who uses the gender-neutral pronouns, they/them.
Following the show, Ben was seen giving Emme, who Jennifer shares with her ex-husband Marc Anthony, a sweet embrace and a kiss on the head before saying goodbye.
Pictured: Ben Affleck’s child Fin in Brentwood with their father and JLo’s child Emme in February 2024
During the exchange, an eyewitness revealed to DailyMail.com that Lopez ‘looked on adoringly.’
The superstar looked every inch the supportive mother as she waited to give Emme a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
Both exes were also seen having a conversation with each other as they mingled with the other attendees.
During their two-year marriage, which Jennifer filed to end over the summer, Ben and the Let’s Get Loud hitmaker mastered the art of integrating their two households into one blended family.
Even amid their ongoing divorce, the pair have been spotted out together with their kids on several occasions, including a meetup at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
One of the few public appearances by the ex-couple in August, when divorce rumours were swirling, was when they reunited at Samuel’s basketball match at a local YMCA in early June.
While most warring couples would be keen to avoid each other, there was no question of Jennifer staying away from the event, also attended by Ben’s mother Christopher Anne ‘Chris’ Boldt, as well as Jennifer Garner.
It came just days after another family gathering at a party for Violet’s high school graduation in LA.
Earlier that month, Violet Affleck was spotted wearing the same dress Jennifer Lopez wore on a Valentine’s Day date with Ben in 2023.
The 19-year-old was pictured in a two-toned Dolce & Gabbana wrap dress during a lunch outing with Jennifer’s 16-year-old twins Max and Emme in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Elsewhere, J’Lo took Violet on a shopping spree in the Hamptons during the 4th July break.
The duo were spotted checking out dresses at US designer LoveShackFancy in Sag Harbor.
And the following week, Violet was pictured with her arm around Jennifer’s shoulders as they enjoyed another day of shopping.
The Jenny from the Block singer also took her stepdaughter to the East Hampton Antiques & Design Show during their getaway.
‘His kids have an ally in me’
It’s no secret that Bennifer 2.0 tried hard to bring their families together. A source told People : ‘She loved having all the kids there. She loved the location. It all felt very special. It was a dream for her’
A source told People: ‘She loved having all the kids there. She loved the location. It all felt very special. It was a dream for her.’
Stylist Courtney Victor added: ‘They all seemed like such a happy and cohesive family unit.’
In an interview with Vogue in 2022, Jennifer spoke about the importance of blending their families and the role she wanted to play in Ben’s children’s lives.
She explained: ‘What I hope to cultivate with our family is that his kids have a new ally in me and my kids have a new ally in him, someone who really loves and cares about them but can have a different perspective and help me see things that I can’t see with my kids because I’m so emotionally tied up.’
Following the wedding, an insider told People that Jennifer ‘spent months looking for the perfect house’ for their blended family.
She told Today in January 2023: ‘We moved in together. The kids moved in together. It’s been, like, a really kind of emotional transition, but at the same time all your dreams coming true.
‘It’s just been a phenomenal year. Like, my best year I think since my kids were born.’
Jennifer Lopez and Violet Affleck pictured embracing during a family trip to Paris for Lopez and Affleck’s honeymoon in July 2022
The couple ended up buying a $65m LA mansion in May 2023, which they have already put back on the market.
At the premiere of her movie Shotgun Wedding, Jennifer said of the move: ‘It’s going really, really well; it’s amazing. We have five beautiful, beautiful children, blessings.
‘We dropped one of them off at school today and we were just kind of thinking about what our lives have become and just feeling so blessed and grateful for where we wound up in our lives.’
Difficulty of four teens under one roof
During an appearance on the Live with Kelly and Mark show in May 2023, Jennifer opened up about the challenges of four teenagers – but described her stepson Samuel as an ‘angel’.
She said: ‘That’s almost five teenagers. The youngest is 11, so he’s not quite [a teen], but preteen. He’s an angel.’
Opening up about her experience of parenting her twins, the star added: ‘The teenage years are tough. They start challenging you and everything.
‘You have this baby for a while and then it’s like your best little friend who loves being with you all the time, and all of a sudden they’re like, “Get out of my room”.’
She added: ‘I feel like it’s surfing. I’m riding the waves, and then it’s like, “Oops, I just got knocked over!” Now, I’m back, I’m back!’
