Ben Affleck Is (Finally) Fine!

Great news for all who love Massholes and redemption stories: Ben Affleck appears to be emerging from the other side of a harrowing mid-life crisis, and is, for once in his life, doing just fine.

Affleck sat down with the Wall Street Journal’s magazine to talk about his long road to wherever he is now—happiness, I think, or something like it. He’s giving it a second shot with a famous lady that he once loved, he’s sober, he’s starring in some movies, and most importantly, seems to have figured out how to juggle his own personal demons with the demands of being a public figure. “Only in the last four years have I been able to not be so terrified, because I recognize I won’t die without work,” he said. Relatable, I suppose, to few but not all, but still worth considering, even though most people might actually die without work, because they need money to continue to live.

In any case, the intrepid interviewer at WSJ poked the Jennifer Lopez bear, and to Affleck’s credit, he delivered an answer that is a gorgeous and long-winded response that conveys nothing more than “I do wish you’d stop asking me this question, bro, because I won’t answer it!”

You can write conjecture about it, but one of the harder lessons that I have learned is that it’s not wise to share everything with the world. There are some things which are private and intimate and have meaning in terms of their intimacy by dint of the fact that they’re not shared with the rest of the world. I’m more comfortable just learning to find a boundary between things that I want to share and things that I don’t. I don’t know if it’s good or bad. I don’t. I know that I feel more comfortable having those healthy boundaries in my life around which, in a friendly and straightforward way, I tell you, I just don’t want to be talking about my personal relationship in the newspaper. I’m going to exercise a little restraint.

Boundaries! Frankly, how nice for Ben Affleck. Truly. It is! [WSJ]

• Kathy Griffin is officially cancer-free. [Us Weekly]
• Travis Scott has offered to pay for the funeral costs of some of the victims of the Astroworld incident, but many of them have respectfully declined his offer. [TMZ]
• Chrissy Teigen is apparently handling her “mid-life crisis” by cultivating a wig collection… [Us Weekly]
• Shawn Mendes is handling his breakup with Camila Cabello just fine, but he is apparently more heartbroken over their shared dog, Tarzan, and would like joint custody. [Hollywood Life]
• Imagine a world where Vanessa Lachey was married to Ryan Reynolds. [Us Weekly]