Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck Gave Hints That They Were Struggling in Their Marriage With This Move

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck may have shown signs that their marriage was struggling months ago, but fans just missed some of the clues. Yes, the “Sad Affleck” face often made an appearance on the red carpet, but the couple was making major moves right under everyone’s nose, indicating that the dynamics were changing in their relationship.

In early April, Lopez and Affleck were spotted house-hunting in New York City. They looked at both luxurious rental properties and residences that were available for purchase, but they didn’t find anything that fit their needs that day. At the time, the real estate move was attributed to her filming schedule for Kiss of the Spider Woman and her rehearsal preparations for the This Is Me… Live | The Greatest Hits Tour. Now, the New York Daily News is indicating that the reasons for the East Coast home search are much different than any initially thought.

Lopez reportedly thought that a fresh start in a new city would help their struggling marriage. “She suggested they move to New York to see if leaving Los Angeles would be helpful,” a source told the outlet. It helps that Affleck’s BFF Matt Damon and his wife, Luciana Barroso, live in Brooklyn, so he would have a built-in community, but the idea was nixed because of their blended family. “His kids are still in school, and her twins have a year to go to finish high school,” they added. It would have been too much upheaval for everyone involved.

It hasn’t been a great year for the “Jenny From the Block” singer with career setbacks after her album and Amazon Prime specials were not well received. “She needs serious emotional support now and Affleck is not built for that,” the insider noted. However, the couple is still wearing their wedding bands and they are not ready to throw in the towel just yet. In Touch is reporting that the couple is seeking therapy to, hopefully, work out their difference, but Affleck isn’t as willing of a participant as Lopez is.

“Ben believes in therapy, to a point, and is willing to be a good sport about participating with an open mind, even though he hates the whole humiliating process,” a source explained. “He’s never going to gauge the success of this marriage by what happens in the therapist’s office. He also has a higher tolerance for conflict and having to fight to get his way than the average guy.”

The In Touch insider believes that it’s been an “ego battle” between them even though there’s still “passion and respect” that keeps them clinging to the hope that they can save their marriage. Lopez and Affleck remain in separate residences on the West Coast, and perhaps they will find a way back to each other, but the source isn’t very optimistic. They concluded, “You get the sense that this whole union between him and Jennifer is being held together by nothing but scotch tape.”

Before you go, click here to see a complete timeline of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s relationship.