As Jennifer Lopez has often said about herself, Ben Affleck has not given up on love either, and he’s contemplated dating again.
But the 52-year-old actor, director and producer reportedly has one strict requirement for his next significant other: She must be sober or in recovery.
Affleck, who is well-known for his struggles with alcohol addiction and his reported recent efforts to stay sober, has just gone through a “tough” couple of years with his high-flying romance with Lopez, 55, and the spectacular collapse of their two-year marriage, an insider told the Daily Mail. This turmoil has showed him how important it is to stay sober and healthy.
US actress Jennifer Lopez (R) and US actor Ben Affleck attend Amazon’s “This is Me… Now: A Love Story” premiere at the Dolby theatre in Hollywood, California, February 13, 2024. (Photo by Robyn BECK / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
“Ben has not given up on relationships and finally feels ready to move forward and start dating again,” the source told the Daily Mail. “He is not going to jump into anything serious until the divorce is finalized but that does not mean he cannot date.”
But going forward, Affleck “only wants to date someone who is sober or in recovery,” the source said. “These past two years have been tough for Ben and as he begins to heal, one thing is very clear: His recovery comes before anything. He is not going to put his sobriety in jeopardy.”
After Affleck moved out of the $68 million mansion he purchased with Lopez during their short marriage and returned to bachelor life in his own rental mansion, friends feared that he could relapse and start drinking again under the strain of their very public break-up.
But Affleck reportedly stayed sober and was upset by reports about friends’ fears. “Ben tries to avoid reading the news, but it did upset him that people thought he relapsed because he had not,” the source said.
To a certain extent, Lopez fit Affleck’s requirement for a sober partner. The singer, actor and entrepreneur has long claimed that she eschews alcohol for health and beauty purposes.
But in 2023, she was seen by fans as sending very mixed messages about her support for her husband’s sober lifestyle by attaching her name to an alcohol brand, Delola, which sells ready-to-drink spritzes made with vodka, tequila or amaro.
Fans raised alarm because Lopez was newly married to a “sober partner”; her fourth husband had been to rehab multiple times and openly discussed how his alcohol abuse hurt his first marriage to Jennifer Garner and did serious damage to his career as an actor and director. On Lopez’s Instagram post, announcing her new brand partnership with Delola, followers accused her of being disrespectful to Affleck and of trying to cash in and “stay relevant.”
“J-Lo, you don’t drink,” one person said on her Instagram post announcing her new Delola partnership. “This is like something that is known and has been pointed out on numerous occasions. I …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
