this photo is from 8-15
We recently heard that Ben Affleck was unsure about whether he would stick it out in rehab after his estranged wife, Jennifer Garner, staged an intervention to get him help. That story originated in paparazzi agency X17, which has photographers on the ground who could talk to Garner off the record. Now E! has a story claiming that Affleck will probably stay and that he’s doing ‘OK.’ We also recently heard that Affleck and Garner are close to signing off on their divorce and have worked out the major details. Multiple outlets confirmed that, along with the fact that they’re going to finalize everything once Affleck completes treatment. Here are the quotes from E! about his stay:

“Ben is still in rehab and has not left. He’s doing OK,” a source tells E! News. “He seems serious about living in for at least 30 days.”

Over the weekend, E! News learned that Affleck and Garner, who share three kids together, have reached a divorce settlement but will wait until he completes his current rehab stint to file it in court.

“The divorce is wrapped up but has not been signed off on. They are waiting for Ben to get out to do that,” the insider says. “They both want to move on and end the financial negotiations and the custody discussions.”

[From E!]

That’s good news. One thing that I remember about getting sober is that there’s a period of depression that can set in a few weeks afterwards. Everyone talks about the “pink cloud” and that’s real but you can also be down in the dumps. A lot of people I know who are sober went through this and it’s not the same as withdrawal, which is likely what Ben is going through now, not this later stage. I think it’s your brain trying to adjust without alcohol. It’s tough getting and staying sober. I was just thinking about this after reading this People story with quotes from an addiction expert. He talks about the complicated nature of addiction and how it’s not a character flaw or a matter of not caring about your loved ones. (Plug for Smart Recovery and the free cognitive behavioral tools there. If you are struggling to quit drinking, print out and fill out some of their worksheets. AA is also free and available everywhere.)

Meanwhile The Wrap has analysis from an insurance expert who speculates that Ben has cost himself the Batman role due to the expensive cost of insuring him post-rehab. Their expert states “More than likely the studio will replace him because the insurance costs are going to go through the roof… He would be bondable, but the deductible would be really high, probably the budget of the film.” Wow that’s incredible. I didn’t realize how pricey insurance could be in that industry, but I guess that makes sense considering how much money is at stake. However I thought that Ben wasn’t moving forward with that role regardless. He’s been very ambivalent about it in interviews and recent articles have suggested the standalone Batman movie was not happening.

Get well soon Ben. Stick it out, you can do it.

Someone needs to make a painting of this photo.

photos credit: Backgrid and WENN