Starting over. Ben Affleck appeared intoxicated at a Halloween party in West Hollywood months after celebrating one year of sobriety.
The Triple Frontier actor, 47, was spotted stumbling out of Kimpton La Peer Hotel after attending the UNICEF Masquerade Ball on Saturday, October 26, in a video obtained by TMZ. Affleck was then seen with his arms around an unknown woman before nearly falling in the street and steadying himself on a vehicle.
Affleck “has acknowledged he’s going to slip up from time to time,” a friend tells Us. “It was never as if this was simply behind him.”
The A-lister recently celebrated one year of sobriety and was in a “great place” before this weekend’s incident. He and ex-wife Jennifer Garner, 47, were doing “amazingly well at coparenting” their three children, Violet, 13, Seraphina, 10, and Samuel, 7, an insider told Us on August 23.
“He continues to want to be the best father and friend he can be,” the source said. “They have shared a great summer with the kids, doing outings, travel, etc. They have a very trusting and special relationship.”
Garner has been one of the “most supportive” people of Affleck’s journey to sobriety, according to the insider. The Good Will Hunting star checked into rehab in August 2018 after the Peppermint actress and a sober coach staged an intervention at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Affleck completed a 40-day treatment program for alcohol addiction at the facility and has been regularly attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
“The support I have received from my family, colleagues and fans means more to me than I can say,” the Justice League star wrote on Instagram in October 2018. “It’s given me the strength and support to speak about my illness with others. Battling any addiction is a lifelong and difficult struggle. Because of that, one is never really in or out of treatment. It is a full-time commitment. I am fighting for myself and my family.”
Affleck has been open in the past about his struggle for sobriety. The Gone Girl star told Today coanchor Hoda Kotb in March that being an addict is something that he deals with everyday.
“Some people are sort of uncomfortable, [but] it doesn’t really bother me to talk about alcoholism and being an alcoholic,” Affleck explained. “It’s part of my life. It’s something that I deal with. It doesn’t have to sort of subsume my whole identity and be everything, but it is something that you know you have to work at.”
The Oscar winner previously checked into rehab in 2001 and 2017. Affleck and Garner finalized their divorce in November 2018 after 10 years of marriage.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
