Matt Damon Doesn’t Think Ben Affleck’s Girlfriend “Measures Up” To Jennifer Garner Is Old, Fake News

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A story claiming Matt Damon “can’t stand” Ben Affleck’s “new girlfriend” Lindsay Shookus and doesn’t think she “measures up” to Jennifer Garner is old, fake news. Gossip Cop corrected this false story with the help of Damon’s spokesperson a few days ago. But now the untruths have been published online, despite the on-the-record debunking.

This erroneous narrative originally came out on Wednesday in the new issue of In Touch. As Gossip Cop noted in our bust on Thursday, the tabloid claimed Affleck and Damon had a “falling out” over Shookus. It was alleged Damon finds the “SNL” producer to be “controlling and manipulative,” although the gossip magazine had no examples to back up such a characterization. It was further asserted that Damon objected to the relationship because Shookus “likes to drink and Ben shouldn’t be around that.” Of course, most adults imbibe alcohol at some point or another. It’s not as if Affleck can cut out from his life every single person that drinks.

The article also maintained Damon doesn’t think Shookus “measures up” to Garner, and that he and Affleck weren’t getting along because of his best friend’s stance. A rep for Damon, however, exclusively told Gossip Cop that the allegations were untrue. In addition, it’s apparent the two haven’t had a “falling out” because Damon continues to publicly speak well of Affleck. Last month, for instance, Damon credited Affleck for helping him deal with his father’s death, saying his longtime friend is like a “brother” to him. Damon also recently defended Affleck’s back tattoo, noting, “I support him in all of his artistic expression.”

He also confirmed during that same interview, which was on “The Daily Show,” that they’re still buds. But even though Damon’s spokesperson disputed the outlet’s story and even though there is evidence proving it is untrue, on Saturday the publication decided to peddle its lies online with the headline, “Matt Damon Doesn’t Think Ben Affleck’s New GF ‘Measures Up’ to Jennifer Garner.” That title actually adds a new inaccuracy to the mix. Shookus is not Affleck’s “new” girlfriend.

It was first revealed last July, roughly nine months ago, that Affleck was dating Shookus. And it was confirmed then that they had already known each other for years. But all this time later Damon is first expressing his disapproval of their romance? That hardly makes sense and isn’t very believable. In fact, showing that its reporting leaves a lot to be desired, the tabloid acknowledges in its web story, “It’s unclear when Ben and Lindsay actually started seeing each other.”

And with no new proof to substantiate its assertions, the magazine again insists Damon and Affleck are “no longer close because Matt isn’t too fond of Ben’s girlfriend,” and even adds, “Only time will tell if these friends with so much history can make it work despite the bad blood.” But as indicated above, they are still “close” and they are making it “work.” In Touch is shamefully trying to dupe fans and search engines by promoting untrue content that has already been rightly debunked. The outlet may be trying to package its bogus claims online in a different way than they appeared in print, but that doesn’t suddenly make them legitimate.