Summary
- Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith were close Hollywoood friends, but things got strained after Affleck married Jennifer Garner.
- Kevin Smith blamed Jennifer Garner for distancing him from Ben Affleck.
- Despite the fallout, Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith rekindled their friendship, and Smith even attended Affleck's marriage to Jennifer Lopez.
Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith were once the best of friends, even helping each other cultivate successful careers in Hollywood. But all that ended when Affleck got married to Jennifer Garner in 2005. Smith made it clear when he wasn't on speaking terms with Affleck that he didn't feel welcome or like he fit in with Affleck’s glamorous new life as a Hollywood A-lister and family man.
For a long time, Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith were as "thick as thieves," with Affleck appearing in almost half of all the films Smith has ever created, including Jersey Girl, Chasing Amy, and Dogma.
Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith's friendship helped them both create some epic films like Mallrats that became cult classics over the years. So, when they fell out, fans were sad because it meant the duo wouldn't be working together anytime soon. Luckily, the two did find their way back to each other and have been closer than ever. In this article, we look at why Kevin Smith and Ben Affleck's friendship changed and who Smith blamed for the rough patch.
Kevin Smith Had The Perfect Reaction To An Audience Member Yelling During His Real Time With Bill Maher
It yet another instance of an audience member getting involved during Real Time with Bill Maher, but Kevin Smith had the perfect reaction to it all.
What Happened Between Kevin Smith And Ben Affleck?
Kevin Smith and Ben Affleck's relationship was very close before Afflick was married to his first wife, Jennifer Garner. According to Smith, Garner was not a big fan of his, and did not make him feel welcome in his Affleck’s life. When asked about his longtime friendship during a Comic Con event with Affleck in 2014, Smith revealed they were no longer as close as they used to be, and he had not seen him in a while.
Ana de Armas Called Dating Ex-Boyfriend Ben Affleck Dangerous, Moved On To Someone More Low-Key
Ana de Armas considered her relationship with Ben Affleck risky, due to dangerous media attention and an inability to go out in public.
“That’s old Ben. He’s got a wife that doesn’t care for me at all and, honestly, he probably doesn’t care for me at all anymore. He’s a triple-A-list movie star and sh** like that.”
While on his Silent Bob Speaks tour, Kevin Smith again blamed Jennifer Garner for the demise of his friendship with Ben Affleck. The Jersey Girl director said Garner did not share his sense of humor and hated his jokes, so that meant he saw less and less of Affleck.
“I was picking on Ben Affleck, making fun of him because I’ve known him for a long time, I was talking smack — and Jennifer goes, 'You know, if you keep saying stuff about him, I'm going to kick your a--.' And she could — I've seen Alias. She has a real girly sense of humour and didn't understand that I was kidding.”
Why Kevin Smith And Ben Affleck Stopped Talking
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner announced their separation in 2015 and filed for divorce two years later. According to The Accountant actor, their marriage didn’t work because they just grew apart. However, Affleck's divorce from Garner didn’t necessarily mean Kevin Smith and Ben Affleck reunited as good friends.
Fans Felt Bad For Ben Affleck After His History Of Fighting In Public With Jennifer Lopez Was Exposed
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's history of fighting in public has resulted in fans pitying the celebrity couple.
When a fan on Twitter asked Smith what happened to his friendship with the Ben Affleck, he replied, “If I had to guess? It’s because one of us has a big mouth and told too many candid stories that sometimes weren’t his to tell, and the other one is Ben.”
The previous year, Kevin Smith got Ben Affleck in trouble with the masses when he said the actor said, “A man kissing another man is the greatest acting challenge an actor can ever face.” Affleck received a lot of backlash for his comments at the time, with actress Rachel Wood saying, “Try getting raped in a scene. Also, grow up Ben.”
When Kevin Smith's heart attack occurred in 2018, he did an interview where he revealed to The Daily Beast which of his longtime friends had reached out to him, and none of them were Ben Affleck. “Which is fine. Maybe he didn’t even hear about it…. if he did hear about the heart attack he was probably like, “Well, I’m glad he’s alive, moving on.' I’m too much trouble. I realize, even now as I’m saying this, I try not to talk about him, and we just did for five minutes. He probably didn’t hear about the heart attack, but he’ll hear about this. 'Why is this f**king fool still talking about me?'"
Are Kevin Smith And Ben Affleck Still Friends?
Despite their estrangement, Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith found their way back to each other. Unsurprisingly, once the Alias actress was no longer controlling who Aflleck could be friends with, he and Smith rekindled their friendship. It started when the Batman actor began making cameos again in his friend’s films. In 2019, Affleck returned to acting with his friend by making a cameo in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
“I actually felt like Reboot was the new beginning of a beautiful friendship. It was like, ‘Oh, we’re back. Now I can reach out to Ben anytime.”
Ben Affleck also appeared in Kevin Smith’s 2022 film, Clerks III, and reportedly spent time with the director on set. “We spent more time bullsh**ting than we did actually making the movie. But I was glad; it just felt like things were right.”
Smith also attended Ben Affleck’s wedding with Jennifer Lopez in Georgia, so their friendship will likely go on as it did before. Kevin Smith said he cried during the ceremony. "I'm telling you this wedding would have made even the most hard-core cynic believe in true love."
