Whoopi Goldberg Defends Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s L.A. Reunion

Whoopi Goldberg is defending Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s family outing at The Beverly Hills Hotel.

On Saturday, September 14, Lopez, 55, and Affleck, 52, were photographed walking into the famed Los Angeles hotel for lunch with Affleck’s children Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12, and Lopez’s twins, Emme and Max, 16.

The Lopez-Affleck sighting was a “Hot Topic” on the Monday, September 16, edition of The View, and Goldberg, 68, defended the pair’s decision to live their lives in the open — and in a location where they’d be very much on display. 

“It is very difficult, because people like us sit around and we judge it,” the cohost said, adding, “Maybe we just say, ‘Oh, how nice [that] they’re hanging out together.’ Because the kids hear all of this. People see all of this. And it is very difficult to figure out what’s going on in somebody else’s relationship.”

She continued, “I’m assuming they went out because [the] kids wanted to go out, and everybody was doing their thing. And if you’re happy with your family, then you’re affectionate with them. … It doesn’t mean you’re going home with them again. It just means I’m not so mad at you that I can’t sit across from you.”

Meanwhile, Goldberg’s fellow cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin addressed how awkward the situation must be for the couple’s blended brood.

“Listen I’m rooting for true love — these two clearly can’t quit each other,” she said, noting, “It can be hard and disorienting for kids when they feel like they’re in the gray space in relationships.”

Both Lopez and Affleck dressed casually for the occasion, and they were captured talking to one another as they walked into the hotel. Lopez was reportedly wearing her engagement ring from Affleck on her pinky finger, Page Six reported at the time.

Lopez officially submitted paperwork to split from Affleck on August 20, which was the second anniversary of their Georgia wedding ceremony. Afterward, reports suggested Affleck was dating Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s daughter Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy. Affleck’s rep denied these reports, telling Us Weekly on August 27, “There is no truth to any of it. I don’t know if they even know each other. Ben is not dating anyone.”

News of the duo’s separation followed months of speculation that their marriage was falling apart. Us confirmed in May that Affleck had moved out of their home in Beverly Hills, and over the summer, a source exclusively told Us that the duo were “living separate lives” as they navigated their ups and downs. “Jennifer suggested they just take time to figure it out,” the insider noted at the time.

Lopez has remained mum about the divorce drama, though she was reportedly overheard calling herself a “bad picker” at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of her new movie Unstoppable. Later, at an afterparty, she repeated the phrase in conversation with actor Bobby Cannavale, according to footage published by The Hollywood Reporter.