Ben Affleck & Blake Lively's Flirty Behavior Reportedly Hurt His Jennifer Garner Marriage
What does Blake Lively have to do with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner? In the present day, their connection couldn't be further apart, but that seemingly wasn't the case during their time together on 2010's "The Town." Due to Lively's legal battle with her former co-star, Justin Baldoni, some old wounds have resurfaced. And from the looks of it, Affleck and Lively's rumored past flirty behavior on-set came back to haunt the "Argo" actor and threaten his relationship with Garner, post-divorce.
All of this became evident when Lively submitted unsealed court filings to prepare her defense against Baldoni. The documents included an email exchange requesting production advice for her and Baldoni's movie, "It Ends with Us," from someone who is speculated to be Affleck — the name of the recipient was redacted, according to the Daily Mail. However, it's not difficult to associate it with the two-time Oscar winner because the email contained references to Matt Damon's "Jason Bourne" (Damon is a close friend of Affleck's) and a "Jennifer," identified as the person's wife — at the time that the email was sent, Affleck was married to Jennifer Lopez.
The most notable moment in the one-way correspondence was when Lively opened with, "Ben, it's Blake. Don't hang up" (via People). The message sounded like a plea to Affleck from Lively, who may have known that her former co-star wouldn't want to start a dialogue with her — potentially because of the strain their previous friendship caused Affleck's marriage to Garner. After their bitter divorce, Affleck and the "Alias" actor slowly started to develop a friendly co-parenting relationship, and since the court filings don't indicate that the "Gone Girl" star responded to Lively's email, it seems that he wasn't willing to dredge up their complicated past.
Were Ben Affleck and Blake Lively a thing?
The flirty relationship between Ben Affleck and Blake Lively dates back over a decade, when the latter played the former's love interest in "The Town". According to the Daily Mail, they filmed in Boston, and Affleck reportedly took Lively sightseeing when they weren't working. During the movie's press tour, Affleck was extremely enthusiastic about Lively's work, as he stated in an Interview Magazine article (via the Mail): "I think she's really going to blow up, and I want to look like the smart guy. I want to say I bought the stock when it wasn't $500 a share."
According to Mail insiders, their relationship didn't make Garner happy at all. Affleck and Garner's long road to divorce culminated in their 2015 split, with Garner calling it a very difficult moment in her life. She told Marie Claire UK: "You have to be smart about what you can and can't handle, and I could not handle what was out there ... The actual breaking up of a family is what was hard. Losing a true partnership and friendship is what was hard."
From the looks of it, Lively reached out to Affleck via email because she needed all the help she could get. According to People, the star defined her experience on the set of "It Ends With Us" as abhorrent. But if Affleck really gave no response to Lively, it sent a clear message that he didn't want to upset Garner at all — no matter what Lively was going through. After all, he's already revealed that his divorce from Garner was the biggest regret of his life.