HOLLYWOOD—Actors Ben Affleck, 42, and Jennifer Garner, 43, are getting a divorce. Rumors in the past have circulated of the power couple calling quits on their marriage. The two released the following statement confirming their recent decision of filing for a divorce.
“After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce,” the couple revealed in the statement. “We go forward with love and friendship for one another and a commitment to co-parenting our children whose privacy we ask to be respected during this difficult time. This will be our only comment on this private, family matter. Thank you for understanding.”
Affleck and Garner are seeking mediation in their divorce.
The couple first met while on set of the 2001 action film “Pearl Harbor.” They later appeared side by side in the 2003 action-flick “Daredevil.” Shortly after, a romantic relationship began between the two movie stars which later led to a 10 year marriage.
The two tied the knot in 2005 after dating for a few years. They share three children together: Violet, 9, Seraphina, 6, and Samuel, 3.
Garner was previously married to actor Scott Foley from 2000 to 2004. Foley is now married to actress Marika Domińczyk whom he shares two children with: daughter Marley, and son Keller.
The couple have separately starred in numerous movies. Garner is best known for her appearance in the 2004 comedy film “13 Going on 30,” where she plays a young teenager who unknowingly wakes up the next day as a 30 year old woman.
Affleck recently appeared in “Gone Girl” and “Argo.” Affleck’s past partner included singer Jennifer Lopez who the actor was engaged to marry. She attended a movie screening of “Gone Girl” and shared a snap of her shoes in the movie theatre via Twitter. She wrote alongside the photo, “Feet up…movie night!!! #GoneGirl.” The two were engaged from 2002 to 2004 before Affleck called off the engagement. He has also dated actress Gwyneth Paltrow from 1997 to 2000.
Affleck accepted a Best Picture Oscar award in February 2013 for “Argo” and he focused his acceptance speech on Garner. He said, “I want to thank you for working on our marriage for 10 Christmases. It’s good. It is work but the best kind of work and there’s no one I’d rather work with. You have to work harder than you think you possibly can. It’s hard. But you can’t hold grudges. And it doesn’t matter if you get knocked down in life. All that matters is that you gotta get back up.”