She was physically removed from Ben Affleck’s home and tossed into the trash when they split.
Well, at least a cardboard cutout of Ana De Armas was – captured in now infamous Daily Mail pictures – but the intention was clear: Affleck was done with their relationship.
The actor pair had met on the set of erotic thriller Deep Water in 2019, in which they played husband and wife. By March 2020, that onscreen love had manifested in real life, and they were spotted vacationing together. The following month they were ‘Instagram official’.
And with the Covid pandemic threatening to scupper their blossoming romance, they quarantined together at Affleck’s $19 million Pacific Palisades mansion, ordering take-outs and enjoying walks around the posh neighborhood with their respective dogs.
‘Ben and Ana had such a special and unique relationship because they were holed up together 24/7 during the pandemic,’ an insider exclusively now tells the Daily Mail. ‘They got so close so fast, and it was passionate and real.’
Well, at least it was for a time.
She was physically removed from his home and tossed into the trash when they split. Well, at least a cardboard cutout of Ana De Armas was, but the intention behind it was clear: Ben Affleck was done with their relationship.
The actor pair had met on the set of erotic thriller Deep Water in 2019, in which they played husband and wife. (Pictured in 2020).
With the Covid pandemic threatening to scupper their blossoming romance, they quarantined together at Affleck’s $19 million Pacific Palisades mansion, ordering take-outs and enjoying walks around the posh neighborhood with their respective dogs.
For two years later, the Covid love-in was over – with Affleck performing that immature stunt of discarding a life-sized cutout of Armas outside his Los Angeles mansion, in clear view of the paparazzi.
He then moved swiftly on to old-flame Jennifer Lopez – rekindling their famous early 2000s love affair.
Their first engagement had fallen apart in 2004, but – after a whirlwind rapid reconnection just months after the Armas split – Affleck and JLo tied the knot in Las Vegas in July 2022.
But theirs too would be an unsuccessful romance: JLo, 55, filed for divorce last August.
To make matters worse, our source says that Affleck’s relationship with Ana only ended ‘because she wanted marriage, and he did not.’
So far, so messy.
Only now, our source shares, Affleck, 52, is said to be having regrets about leaving Armas, 36, and feels he could have ‘dodged the JLo bullet’ had he stuck it out with the Cuban actress.
This revelation comes amid fevered speculation of a brewing romance between Armas and Tom Cruise – who is almost double her age at 62 – after they were spotted dining together for Valentine’s Day.
Sources close to the Top Gun star claim their relationship is strictly business.
But could Affleck be feeling pangs of jealousy for the woman he was once so smitten over?
Indeed, like lovestruck high schoolers, Affleck and Armas once flaunted cringeworthy matching heart necklaces, while she wore his baggy ‘boyfriend’ shirts.
More important, Affleck’s children – Violet, 19, Fin, 16, and Samuel, 13 – appeared to be big fans of Armas.
In June 2020, they enjoyed a vacation with their dad and his new girlfriend in Georgia where he owns a sprawling $7.1 million, 87-acre estate. Armas’s beloved dog Elvis joined the party.
The actress even had the seal of approval from Affleck’s younger brother Casey – who, after the breakup, described her as ‘the sweetest, funniest, smartest, most charming person’.
Affleck’s first wife and mother of his children, Jennifer Garner, was said to also approve.
All of which might now be playing on his mind.
‘He ended up marrying Jen after not being able to commit to Ana,’ our source says. ‘In hindsight, he realizes how wrong this was and sees that he could have dodged the JLo bullet by not ending things with Ana. He knows how she must have felt.’
Affleck made no secret of his reservations about a rekindling with Lopez, even speaking about them only during her self-indulgent 2024 documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told.
During one clip he shared: ‘Getting back together, I said, ‘Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media.’
‘Then I sort of realized it’s not a fair thing to ask. It’s sort of like, you’re gonna marry a boat captain and you go, “Well, I don’t like the water.”
‘We’re just two people with different kinds of approaches trying to learn to compromise.’
Lopez recognized Affleck’s unease about being in the public eye as a couple.
‘He ended up marrying Jen after not being able to commit to Ana,’ our source says. ‘In hindsight, he realizes how wrong this was and sees that he could have dodged the JLo bullet by not ending things with Ana. He knows how she must have felt.’ (Pictured: JLo last month).
Last month, Armas even sparked speculation of a brewing romance with Tom Cruise – who is almost double her age at 62 – after they dined together for Valentine’s Day .
‘I don’t think [Ben] is very comfortable with me doing all of this,’ she said. ‘But he loves me, he knows I’m an artist, and he’s gonna support me in every way he can because he knows you can’t stop me from making the music I made… he doesn’t want to stop me. But that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable being the muse.’
Armas appears to share Affleck’s distaste for a life in the spotlight, admitting that the attention she received after their split was ‘horrible’.
‘That’s one of the reasons why I left LA,’ she told Elle in 2022. ‘This is not the place for me to be. It became a little bit too much. There’s no way out.’
So will Ben be hoping for another rekindling – and this time with Armas?
‘He wishes he could go back and do it differently, but he can’t,’ our source admitted. ‘It is too late now, but Ben has much respect for Ana. He hopes she finds what she wants and has a family. He thinks she is an incredible woman.’
Armas soon healed from Affleck heartbreak and started secretly dating Tinder exec Paul Boukadakis less than six months after their split. She moved into his New York apartment away from the ‘fishbowl’ of Los Angeles, but they separated in November last year.
The same month, she was spotted kissing Manuel Anido Cuesta, the stepson of Cuba’s president, during a night out in Madrid. And then, most recently, came the Tom Cruise rumors.
But, at least officially, Armas and Affleck are both currently on the market…
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