Back in October, Ben Affleck got drunk at a Halloween party.
This wouldn’t be a big deal were it not for the fact that Ben has been battling alcoholism for most of his adult life.
Now, there’s nothing funny about alcoholism, or addiction in general.
That said, the sight of a sloshed Ben trying to evade a TMZ cameraman by stumbling through a parking lot in a skeleton mask (below) is pretty damn funny.
Sorry, we don’t make the rules.
We just laugh at the stumbling skeletons:
It’s okay to chuckle (at least that’s what we’re telling ourselves), since it looks as though it was just a one-night fall from the wagon, and Ben’s been clean and sober ever since.
Affleck’s companion for the night was a musician named Katie Cherry, and while there have been no updates on the status of that relationship, it seems there Ben has faced some recent hurdles in his dealings with the other woman in his life.
According to a pair of new reports from Us Weekly, Jennifer Garner was more than a little pissed off about Ben’s relapse, and she’s been watching him like a hawk ever since.
An insider tells the tabloid that Jen has made it perfectly clear what’s at stake — apparently, she’s threatened Ben with restricting access to his kids if he slips up again.
“Ben has been filming in New Orleans and hadn’t seen the kids in a few weeks. They had a big week with Thanksgiving and Violet’s birthday. There was a lot of family time and things do come up,” the source explains.
“Jen wants things done a certain way and sometimes Ben isn’t able to do it in that way,” the tipster continues.
“Ben had to head back to New Orleans and couldn’t be part of Violet’s birthday celebration in the way that they had hoped for. Its a balancing act.”
The informant says Jen is doing her damnedest to make sure that Ben is able to remain in his kids’ lives — but Affleck doesn’t always make it easy.
“They are continuing to coparent and spend holidays together but there are issues with schedules and commitments,” the insider tells Us.
“It can be challenging to always be on the same page when you’re dealing with kids’ personalities, priorities and decision making.”
It seems the whole family is together “whenever they can be,” and Ben is back in Los Angeles “whenever he has a break from a movie.”
A different insider confirms to Us that Jen and Ben’s co-parenting relationship has been marred by “underlying tension” in recent weeks.
“Jen has very high standards and expectations,” says the second source.
“She wants things done a certain way, and sometimes Ben isn’t able to live up to that.”
This insider confirms that Jen is the glue holding the family together — and it’s not always a role that she relishes.
“Jen puts up with a lot and does everything she can to keep it together,” the source says.
“She wants Ben to be in the kids’ lives. That means dealing with things she isn’t happy about. Jen’s major sticking point is that Ben needs to be sober — and truthful about it,” the informant continues.
“There’s no wiggle room on that as far as his relationship with his kids goes. He’s trying to stay on track and be the best he can for them. But Jen doesn’t always trust him — and relapse is always a concern.”
Sounds pretty dire, but the source says Jen and Ben remain on the same page in terms of putting their kids’ needs first:
“Regardless of any disagreements, they try to put on a happy face for the kids and put their needs first,” says the source.
“There’s definitely a lot of resentment, but they’re a family first and foremost.”
Let’s hope for more happy faces and fewer skeleton masks in 2020.