Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner recently announced that they decided to split up. Many people were surprised, including us; however, on closer inspection, we realize that this was probably a long time coming. Rumors have been circulating for years that things between these two A-list stars were falling apart, but many of us shrugged them off, assuming that they would pull through yet again. Now that things are finally over, we’re taking a look at all of those signs that we conveniently overlooked over the past year or so. Here are 8 signs that Affleck and Garner were headed for splitsville long before they made their official announcement!
8. Ben Affleck’s Oscar Acceptance Speech
Back in 2013, when Ben Affleck accepted the Oscar for Best Motion Picture of the Year for his work in “Argo,” he seemed to acknowledge that he and Jennifer Garner were having problems. “I want to thank you for working on our marriage for 10 Christmases. It’s good. It is work but the best kind of work and there’s no one I’d rather work with,” he said. Calling his marriage “work” was definitely a sign that all was not well between Affleck and Garner.
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7. Jennifer Garner’s Interview with InStyle
In an interview with InStyle back in 2013, Jennifer Garner made her marriage to Ben Affleck sound pretty unromantic. “You can’t expect to be courted all the time, and I don’t want to court him right now – I don’t have the energy!” She also made it sound like they had kids too soon. “When we had our first [child] we had only been together a year. We were babies. It happened so fast, I hardly remember what we were like before the kids got here,” she said. “Now we’re just starting to go away for a night here and there.”
It kind of sounds like Garner and Affleck may have jumped into marriage and children a little too fast.
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6. The Tabloids
The tabloids were all over the Ben Affleck/Jennifer Garner split long before it even happened. The National Enquirer and Radar Online, in particular, were all over this. They kept saying that there were problems with Affleck and Garner’s marriage and that they were heading for divorce. They were right!
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5. 10-Month Long Trial Separation
According to E! Online, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck had been separated for 10 months prior to announcing that they were splitting up. They were reportedly living separately, with Affleck staying in hotels.
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4. Rumors of Infidelity
We all know that infidelity is what brought down Ben Affleck’s engagement with Jennifer Lopez, so it shouldn’t come as too big a shock that he has been rumored to have cheated on Jennifer Garner. There were rumors that he was getting a little too friendly with Blake Lively, his co-star from “The Town,” and Emily Ratajkowski, his on-screen mistress in “Gone Girl.”
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3. Lack of Public Couple/Family Outings
Back in late May, Radar Online noted that Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck hadn’t been seen together in 31 days. They used their separate schedules and Affleck’s incessant gambling as proof that all was not well in paradise. A couple of weeks after this, Affleck and Garner were spotted together shopping. This was obviously an attempt to silence any speculation about their marriage.
Unfortunately, it backfired. In one paparazzi shot, it actually looked like Affleck was checking out another woman.
Photo by Broadimage/REX Shutterstock
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2. Ben Affleck’s Drinking and Gambling
Ben Affleck’s drinking and gambling has reportedly escalated over the last few years and Jennifer Garner couldn’t take it anymore. Just last year, he was banned for life from the Hard Rock Café in Vegas for counting cards and, around that same time, he admitted that he had been drinking heavily to portray Nick Dunne in “Gone Girl.”
Alcoholism runs in Affleck’s family. His father is a recovering alcoholic and he himself went to rehab back in 2001. Ben swore off alcohol, but he can’t seem to stay on the wagon. We should have known that Garner would eventually lose her patience.
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1. Years of Couples Counseling
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck were reportedly in therapy for years before they finally decided to call it quits. Three years ago – around the time that Sam was born – they were allegedly really close to divorcing, but decided to use couples counseling to keep everything together. In the end, they both realized that they wanted different things and that no amount of couples counseling would change that.