Ben Affleck is feeling “hopeful” now that he has his own place away from Jennifer Lopez!
As Perezcious readers know, last week, the Air director purchased a $20.5 million home in Los Angeles amid divorce rumors and an estrangement from his wife. On Friday, an insider told ET that he’s breathing a sigh of relief after closing on the home, sharing:
“Ben really likes his new home and feels hopeful about the change. He wanted to move and be closer to [Jennifer] Garner and their kids to make co-parenting easier. It’s been a hard time for him, but he’s continuing to make his wellbeing and his family a priority.”
Jennifer lives in Brentwood, where he’d been renting a home for the past few months. He’s now just around a 15-minute drive from her home — which is about twice as close as his previous house was in Beverly Hills with J.Lo. Not bad. That’ll make it easier to split time with the exes’ children, Violent, 18, Fin, 15, and Samuel, 12.
Related: J.Lo Ignites TikTok Debate Over ‘Ridiculous’ Cost Of Her Hermès Bag!
Per property records, Ben acquired the five-bedroom residence from David Calvert-Jones, the nephew of Rupert Murdoch. They closed escrow on J.Lo’s birthday, too. An awkward coincidence!
Speaking of, the husband and wife are still trying to sell their $60 million marital mansion — which Ben reportedly never liked. When discussing the downfall of the romance, a source told the Daily Mail this week:
“Buying that massive house was another huge red flag. He didn’t want that house because it cost a ridiculous amount of money. It never felt like home to him and he cannot even believe that he moved into the home. She didn’t want a marital home for them to grow old in. She wanted a massive structure that cost more than anyone else’s home to flaunt her wealth and her marriage in. She thought that this would make everyone happy.”
Damn. It obviously didn’t make him happy and now Ben is thrilled to get into a smaller — though still super nice — pad! The insider added:
“He found his own home and she is not living in it. It is in his name. She knows this and now it is time for them both to move on.”
Oof. It really is the end of Bennifer 2.0! We don’t see how they could recover from this… Sad!! But, we suppose, it’s better for them both to be happy separately than to be miserable together! And if buying a smaller home was enough to make Ben feel “hopeful” again amid all this, then that says a lot.
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[Image via MEGA/WENN & Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube]