Actors Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck have split after more than 11 years together. The couple's announcement to divorce came just one day after their 10th year wedding anniversary.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, July 30, the two announced their decision to part ways. The statement reads:
After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce. 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."
In the past weeks, there has been a lot of speculation about the couple's impending separation. Last month, pictures of the couple out and about with their children showed them looking strained even as they put on a united front.
A source told Us Weekly that the pair tried to resolve their issues by talking to a counselor and that they have been going to couples therapy for years. The insider added that the couple almost divorced three years ago when their youngest child was born.
"You know how it is — baby comes and solves the issues for a bit but it's just a Band-Aid," the source said, adding that the pair's marriage hasn't been working "for ages."
Affleck, 42, and Garner, 43, first met on the set of their 2001 movie "Pearl Harbor," then shared the screen once more in 2003's "Daredevil." They went public as a couple at the Boston Red Sox's opening game in the World Series on Oct. 23, 2004.
The "Gone Girl" actor proposed to the "Alias" star on her 33rd birthday in April 2005, and wed in a private ceremony in the Caribbean that June. They have three children, daughters Violet, 9, Seraphina, 6, and son Samuel, 3. The two will reportedly live on the same property so that they could co-parent their children.
