All the rumors about Ben Affleck’s reported new relationship with Lindsay Shookus
The gossip world exploded late last week when E! News reported that Ben Affleck is dating Saturday Night Live producer Lindsay Shookus, three months after he and Jennifer Garner officially filed for divorce. Other celeb-focused publications such as People and Entertainment Tonight quickly put out reports confirming the relationship, and added their own details about the alleged budding romance.
Keeping in mind that every source cited about the relationship has been anonymous, and that many of them contradict each other, here’s a roundup of the rumors floating around about Affleck, 45, and Shookus, 37.
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Who is Lindsay Shookus?
Shookus first joined SNL as an assistant to a producer in 2002, before moving up to her current role as producer. A 2015 Hollywood Reporter profile of up-and-coming Hollywood executives reported that Shookus handpicks hosts and musical guests alongside SNL creator Lorne Michaels, and that she was the producer who brought longtime SNL castmember Kristen Wiig in for an audition.
On her first day at SNL, she met then-writer’s assistant Kevin Miller, whom she married in 2010, according to a New York Times wedding announcement.
People reported that Shookus and Miller, who separated in 2014, have a child. In the 2015 Hollywood Reporter profile, Shookus said her then-2-year-old served as her de facto alarm clock.
“My 2-year-old has become my alarm, so on a good day, 7:30 a.m. or 8 a.m.,” Shookus said, when asked about what time she wakes up each day. “My alarm sounds something like, ‘MAMA, where ARE yooooou?'”
Entertainment Tonight reported that despite Shookus and Miller’s split, the duo, who both still work at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, remain friends.
“They live separately but are extremely amicable,” a source told ET. “They split a while ago. They realized that they were stronger as friends.”
Fun fact: According to THR, the host during Shookus’s very first week working on the show back in 2002 was none other than Matt Damon.
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How long have Affleck and Shookus been acquainted?
“Ben and Lindsay have known each other for a couple of years,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. “Ben has been on SNL five times and has met Lindsay while hosting the show. It is early on in the relationship but they are very happy together.”
How serious is their relationship?
“They are spending time together in L.A. Lindsay is staying at Ben’s new house,” a source told People. “They had dinner at Giorgio Baldi last night. They arrived in a limo. They looked happy. They had a quick dinner and then returned to Ben’s house.”
How long have they been dating?
A source told E! News, which originally broke the story, that the duo have “been friends for a while but things got romantic [between the two] only recently.”
However, People magazine cited multiple sources who said that the duo have been dating in secret since 2013, when both were still married to their respective spouses.
“Both of them were married at the time,” a source told People. “They were having secret rendezvous every time he came in to New York City and other places, too. Both of them were cheating on their spouses so they were very careful about it. Jen and [Shookus’] husband both found out about it around the same time.”
Affleck and Shookus “full-on had an affair,” a different source told People. “They would fly back and forth, but he would mostly visit her in New York. They didn’t hide … They would use the Mandarin Oriental [hotel]. They were regulars.”
A third source in the same article disputed the first two, however, saying that Affleck and Shookus “did not date while either of them were married. They started dating when they were separated.”
What does Jennifer Garner think?
People cited two sources who seemed to differ on Garner’s mindset. One said that Affleck’s longtime wife wasn’t happy, claiming that Garner found out that Affleck and Shookus were having an affair in 2015.
“It’s not an easy situation for Jen,” a source told People. “It would have been easier for Jen if Ben would have just dated someone that Jen wasn’t familiar with.”
The other, however, said Garner had moved past her relationship with Affleck, and was solely focused on her kids.
“Of course there are issues given it was a major affair, but Jen is her own woman and is completely fine,” the second source said. “Nothing is new for her here. She’s in mama-bear mode… putting the kids’ happiness first.”
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