Last week, Blake Lively’s court case against Justin Baldoni erupted with a new trove of documents, including a desperate, cringey email she sent to Ben Affleck in May 2024.
The actress reached out to the Oscar-winning actor with a lengthy message, pleading for his advice on her legal issues with It Ends With Us director Justin.
Having acted opposite Blake while directing her in The Town, sources say Ben, 53, seemed a likely candidate to fight in her corner – but things didn’t go according to plan.
Blake’s desperate plea
In the email, Blake, 38, cited “HR issues” while begging Ben for “any ideas or notes” on dealing with the “most upsetting” experience of her career. The actress and producer even went so far as to suggest his then-wife, Jennifer Lopez, should critique the film.
However, there was no reply from the man who tried to jump-start her career. In fact, sources confirm Ben completely ignored her, and for a very good reason – so as not to upset his ex-wife Jennifer Garner, 53.
“No one’s surprised,” spills a pal. “His life spiralled after the last time he tried to help her…”
During filming of The Town, Ben’s mentoring of his new protegee sparked rumours of an on-set affair that spilled over into the tabloids.
None of which was helped by his gushing praise of Blake, telling Interview magazine she “crushed” her audition with a flawless accent – and that, for him, there was no second option.
“I want to look like the smart guy who bought the stock when it wasn’t $500 a share,” he said.
Once bitten, twice shy
To everyone’s surprise – especially Jen’s – the “sizzling chemistry” everyone saw away from the cameras didn’t translate on screen and critics had a field day over Ben and Blake’s lack of “sizzle”.
“It was a shock because Ben and Blake were completely obsessed with each other during the shoot,” an insider reveals. “He’s always denied an affair but they DID have an intense emotional connection – and it sure wasn’t making things happy at home with Jen and their two little kids.
Still, the damage was done as far as his marriage was concerned.
“Jen trusted Ben but she knew about his ‘playboy’ past. Reading about it in the tabloids while home with toddlers was her worst fear come true.
“She’s never really known what happened when leaked images of Blake hit the internet and everyone assumed they were for Ben, it was understandably upsetting.”
With the arrival of their third child, Samuel, in February 2012, friends say Ben was the perfect husband and father, but the cracks were showing.
“Ben went off the rails – quite literally,” says the insider. “His struggles with alcohol were made worse by the frustration of having the movie he was directing reduced to rumours of an on-set fling in the tabloids.”
Marriage over
Ben was relegated to the guesthouse on the family’s property while the couple fleshed out the terms of their divorce, which was made even more complicated when wild rumours of a scandalous affair with the kids’ nanny, Christine Ouzounian, then 28, exploded in the press – rumours Ben continues to deny.
“We had been separated for months before I ever heard about the nanny,” said Jen in a 2016 Vanity Fair article.
“She had nothing to do with our decision to divorce. She was not a part of the equation.”
The divorce was finalised in 2018 and, since then, friends say they’ve become exemplary co-parents, and Ben wouldn’t do anything to risk upsetting his beloved ex-wife.
“Jen’s worked hard to keep that routine, but having this old chapter resurface still hurts,” says a pal. “She’s gone through worse with Ben, but when it comes to Blake Lively, she really had the last laugh, knowing Ben completely ghosted her.”
