He\u2019s risking alienating Bennifer for good \u2013 but he has to voice his concerns<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-631370642-1.jpg” title_text=”Premiere Of Warner Bros. Pictures’ %22Live By Night%22 – Arrivals” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Matt is apparently worried about his friend Ben’s happiness<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
They’ve been best friends for years, so we imagine Ben Affleck has a lot of respect for Matt Damon and his opinions. So spare a thought for Ben as an insider tells Closer<\/em> Matt has raised concerns over Ben’s relationship with Jennifer Lopez. On the face of it, he\u2019s got everything he\u2019s ever wanted: he\u2019s finally settled with the one that \u2013 for a long while \u2013 got away, he\u2019s got a great relationship with the mother of his three kids, his career\u2019s riding high, and he\u2019s got friends that go back to where it all began.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1498027918.jpg” title_text=”Los Angeles Premiere Of Warner Bros. %22The Flash%22 – Arrivals” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] J-Lo and Ben reunited in 2021 and haven’t been out of the spotlight since<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] But behind the fa\u00e7ade, sources say he’s struggling to assert himself when it comes to his relationship with wife Jennifer Lopez, 54 \u2013 and it\u2019s not only causing tension with her (something which we\u2019ve seen traces of on and off the red carpet), but, what\u2019s more, it\u2019s landing him in hot water with his very best friend, Matt Damon. According to insiders, Matt can\u2019t bear to see Ben under the apparent thumb of his superstar wife and is urging him to put his foot down in their marriage. But Ben is far from pleased to receive Matt\u2019s very much unsolicited advice, and it\u2019s creating a massive wedge between the once inseparable besties. <\/p>\n \u201cSeeing Ben out posing on one red carpet after another, totally playing up his role as J-Lo\u2019s arm candy makes Matt nauseous,\u201d says an insider close the long-term besties, who first made friends as schoolkids in Cambridge, Massachusetts more than 40 years ago. \u201cHe can\u2019t bite his tongue, and isn\u2019t afraid to speak his truth to Ben, and the latter usually takes it well, but this time \u2013 when Matt started giving Ben some advice about his marriage and suggesting Jen was emasculating him \u2013 Ben totally blew up. He\u2019s now started to pull back. This is not a good time in their friendship.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-635926863.jpg” title_text=”Actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Matt and Ben have been friends since they were kids<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Having met at the tender ages of eight and 10 respectively, Ben, 51, and Matt, 53, have always been a constant and incredibly significant presence in each other\u2019s lives. They both discovered a love for acting around the same time, and even started travelling to auditions in New York City together in their teens. Then, of course, both their lives changed forever after they co-wrote and co-starred in the 1997 hit film Good Will Hunting, subsequently winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Since then, they\u2019ve been with each other every step of the way \u2013 supporting one another both personally and professionally as they\u2019ve seen their careers reach stratospheric heights, have become fathers, and have also dealt with personal struggles along the way (most notably, Ben\u2019s battles with alcoholism). As Ben told his bestie in a 2022 Entertainment Weekly conversation, \u201cThis friendship has been essential and defining and so important to my life\u2026I don\u2019t think I would\u2019ve been able to be successful without it.\u201d<\/p>\n And so, it apparently stings all the more that \u2013 all these years later \u2013 the BFFs are locking horns when it comes to Ben\u2019s love life. After all, having been on the scene when Ben first met Jen over 20 years ago, Matt knows just how much she means to him. The couple better known as Bennifer first got engaged in 2002, before splitting in 2004 and going on to have children with their now ex-spouses (Ben shares Seraphina, 18, Violet, 14, and Samuel, 11, with his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, while J-Lo has twins Max and Emme, 15 with ex-husband Marc Antony). Having apparently long held a candle for one another, the former flames made all our showbiz romance dreams come true when they reunited in 2021 and finally got married in Las Vegas in 2022. <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1463270860.jpg” title_text=”65th GRAMMY Awards – Show” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] The couple have often been seen rowing in public, including this frosty moment at the 2023 Grammys<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] However, since then, their rekindled romance has been plagued with rumours that \u2013 despite their happy veneers \u2013 they\u2019re often butting heads. Over the past year, they\u2019ve been repeatedly pictured snapping at each other in public \u2013 starting when they famously shared a heated exchange at the Grammy Awards in February, when Jen was seen telling Ben, \u201cLook more friendly, look motivated\u201d. Since then, they\u2019ve been seen on more than one occasion having apparently heated exchanges in their car, and even on the red carpet. They\u2019ve both laughed off rumours of tension and have upped their PDA displays in response – most recently, at ELLE\u2019s Women in Hollywood celebration, where Ben was in supporting Jen, who was being honoured on the night. But sources have still said that \u2013 given they both have strong and dominant personalities \u2013 they\u2019re often at loggerheads, with one source recently telling heat, \u201cThe honeymoon phase is completely over. They still love each other and want to make it work, but all their issues are coming up and they\u2019re both very stubborn people, so they\u2019re clashing all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n But what\u2019s worrying Matt, we\u2019re told, is that it always seems to be Ben who\u2019s compromising, and \u2013 rather than focusing on his own goals and needs \u2013 he\u2019s increasingly stepping out in support of Jen. This is apparently worrying his longtime friend, who himself has been happily married to wife Luciana Barroso for almost 20 years, and it\u2019s causing unprecedented tension between the two couples. Matt, who lives in New York with Luciana and their four daughters, can\u2019t hide his resentment of J-Lo whenever he comes into town \u2013 and his concerns are driving Ben even further away. <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1775780448.jpg” title_text=”2023 LACMA Art+Film Gala, Presented By Gucci – Red Carpet” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] J-Lo is said to be very demanding of Ben<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] \u201cMatt says that the Ben he knows is disappearing \u2013 he\u2019s never known him to be like this,\u201d says our source. \u201cJust look at all the cheesy photo ops he does with J-Lo \u2013 that\u2019s exactly the kind of thing that Ben has always hated. But week after week, there he is posing next to her like some kind of puppet. The problem is, Ben won\u2019t hear a bad word against her. He gets extremely defensive if anyone questions anything about their relationship. It\u2019s not like Matt wants Ben to leave Jen, he\u2019s just asking him to set some boundaries , and he’s the only friend willing to speak up about it. Hopefully they\u2019re both mature enough to not let this end the friendship, but there is no doubt that it\u2019s taking its toll.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#000000″ divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Aboreto|||on|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] PHOTOS: GETTY<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ module_class=”flatplan-readmore” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#111111″ custom_padding=”35px||35px||true|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”85%” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_3_text_color=”#FFFFFF” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] Meghan and Harry\u2019s last resort ‘therapy’<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ module_class=”read-more-item” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”85%” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/bwbnewn.jpg” title_text=”bwbnewn” module_class=”read-more-thumbnail” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text module_class=”read-more-headline” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” text_font_size=”16px” link_option_url=”https:\/\/apple.news\/A0bBtVJeIRiSYmqM4nlVh6g” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] The sexy secrets behind Sofia Vergara\u2019s dirty divorce<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nothing sounds the death knell for a relationship quite like knowing your BFF doesn\u2019t get along with your significant other \u2013 so, spare a thought for Ben Affleck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"closermag","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1839"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1851,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1839\/revisions\/1851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Read 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