Jennifer Garner wants Ben Affleck to save Jennifer Lopez marriage

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Jennifer Garner is reportedly “encouraging” her ex-husband Ben Affleck to work on saving his marriage to Jennifer Lopez.

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“Jennifer Garner is encouraging Ben to work on his marriage to Jen,” a source tells Us Weekly. “She fully supports their relationship and wants nothing more than for him to be happy.”

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Garner, 52, who was married to Affleck from 2005 to 2018, knows how life in the spotlight “can put a strain” on a relationship, but is hopeful he and Lopez can work out their issues, the insider adds.

The 13 Going on 30 alum’s support for her former husband comes amid news that Affleck and Lopez are living separately in Los Angeles.

On Monday, PEOPLE shared a smiling pic of the couple as they were snapped outside the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sunday.

But the outing, in which they were both spotted wearing their wedding rings in public, marked only the second time they had been seen together in nearly two months and came as questions swirl over the status of their relationship.

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One insider told the magazine that the pair have buckled under the intense media scrutiny surrounding their high-profile marriage.

“They just have very different approaches when it comes to media attention. Ben hates all attention and it makes him very uncomfortable. Jennifer has always had a different approach,” the source said.

A second person close to the couple broke the news to PEOPLE that while Affleck appreciates his wife’s success, he doesn’t embrace her need to share intimate details from their life together.

“Even though he admires that about her, it doesn’t make him happy and causes stress in his life and then in hers. There is no question their different styles clash,” they said.

A third insider described Affleck as being “more introspective and private” and said that “causes tension” between the two.

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“She likes to open her heart to her fans and to the world. This makes them considerably different, and it has been difficult in the day-to-day relationship,” they added.

But another confidante hinted they are headed for divorce as they painted a much darker outlook for the duo.

“If there was a way to divorce on grounds of temporary insanity, he would,” the source shared with Page Six. “He feels like the last two years was just a fever dream, and he’s come to his senses now and understands there is just no way this is going to work.”

Affleck, 51, and Lopez, 54, started dating after they met on the set of Gigli and they were engaged from 2002 to 2004. Dubbed “Bennifer,” the twosome’s romance was tabloid fodder highlighted by glitzy movie premieres and a 6.1-carat pink diamond engagement ring.

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But the partners called off their wedding at the last-minute in 2003 and ended their relationship a few months later.

“Jennifer always saw Ben as the one that got away,” an insider told Page Six in 2021 after they renewed their romance. “She was crushed after they broke up, though she felt at the time that she had no other choice but to call off their engagement.”

In the years following their split, Lopez says she was adrift as she navigated her career as an actress and singer on her own.

“I didn’t just feel like I lost the love of my life, I feel like I lost like the best friend that I ever had. And I couldn’t talk for so many years, and that was the hardest part,” she said in her Prime Video documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, earlier this year.

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After their breakup, Lopez moved on with Marc Anthony, with whom she shares two children, while Affleck married Garner and became a father to three. Both unions ended in divorce.

The former flames rekindled their old romance in April 2021 after Lopez broke off her engagement with retired baseball slugger Alex Rodriguez.

At the time, Garner backed their reunion. “J. Lo has Jennifer Garner’s seal of approval,” an insider told Us Weekly. 

Their initial breakup set them on a course of them both figuring out their lives away from one another, Lopez said earlier this year.

“Our relationship crumbled under the weight of the pressure,” Lopez reflected in an interview with Variety. “We lost a sense of ourselves, and we needed to separate because we didn’t know how to survive it. I had to figure myself out, and he had to figure himself out.”

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But despite the tensions, one of PEOPLE’s sources painted an optimistic picture, saying the two will patch up their issues.

“There have always been clashes in their styles, how they handle issues, and their actions, but nothing has stopped their love over the years,” the insider says. “This is a great love story.”

And Lopez herself appears committed to working things out Affleck.

During a February screening of Greatest Love Story Never Told, Lopez was emotional as she thanked Affleck from the stage: “There is the person who inspired this for me, who has inspired me my whole life. And I know he hates that I’m doing this right now… He’s just like, ‘Please shut up.’ No! And I say no. I say, I love you and thank you for believing in me and helping me believe in myself.”

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