Jennifer Lopez’s closeness with estranged husband Ben Affleck’s eldest daughter, Violet, was evident over the weekend, when Lopez posted a video on Instagram of herself, Violet, and a friend driving in the Hamptons—on the opposite coast from Affleck, who remains in Los Angeles amid his summer apart from Lopez. (Lopez and Affleck even spent their wedding anniversary apart, which was last Tuesday.)
Lopez and Violet are close, Entertainment Tonight reports, and this closeness is “tricky” for Affleck, who also shares Seraphina and Samuel with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. (Lopez shares twins Max and Emme with ex-husband Marc Anthony.) The outlet writes that Affleck has found himself “in a precarious situation” amid his marital troubles with Lopez, which go back as far as March.
A source told Entertainment Tonight that Lopez and Affleck “are trying to make this transition as easy as possible and be gentle on their children,” they said. “They don’t want to make things more upsetting than they already have been.”
After canceling her planned summer tour on May 31, Lopez and Affleck have largely been apart, with Lopez jetting to Europe without him, and later spending ample time in the Hamptons, including for both the Fourth of July and their anniversary on July 16, as Affleck remained on the west coast.
“Ben certainly doesn’t want to cause any strain between Jen and Violet, and he is in support of them spending time together,” they said. “It’s a little tricky for him, but both Jen and Ben want all their kids to be happy, regardless of the issues they are facing in their marriage.”
Their shared marital home in Beverly Hills has been publicly listed for $68 million, and “They are trying to sell their home sooner than later and want to move forward,” they said. “They are hoping to have clear, new, and healthy directions for themselves and for their families. They are trying to be strong, but it is a sad time for everyone, and it is difficult to have to deal with everything playing out publicly.”
Page Six reports that “They have gone through phases where things haven’t been as great between them due to their different personalities and not getting enough time together,” a source said. “They’re not always on the same page. They both have so much going on between taking care of their families and their work commitments, and it can be a lot for them.”
