Casey Affleck has been dogged by sexual harassment allegations for ages, and there’s no telling how much of a toll that’s taken on his marriage.
When Casey Affleck and his wife, Summer Phoenix, separated in the spring of 2016, they did so fairly quietly and without the sort of scandal that you expect to see when Afflecks are having marital problems.
Well, this situation is officially past “marital problems” … because Summer Phoenix has filed for divorce.
Casey Affleck, who is 41 years old, and Summer Phoenix, who is 38, have two sons together.
Children and concerns about their emotional well being and adjustments are a complication in a divorce, even after more than a year of separation.
Indiana Affleck is 13 years old.
Atticus Affleck is 9 years old.
(You remember — the children Casey Affleck famously forgot in his Oscars speech)
Summer Phoenix is Joaquin Phoenix’s sister, by the way — Joaquin originally set the two of them up.
Casey Affleck is, of course, Ben Affleck’s (worse) brother.
Whatever sense of commonality the two felt as less-famous siblings in famous families clearly wasn’t enough to keep them together forever, though.
E! reports that, in her divorce filing, Summer Phoenix cites “irreconcilable differences.”
Honestly, it’s technically nobody’s business why people are getting divorced — to the point that it’s weird that couples even have to cite reasons that they’re ending their marriage unless it’s a contentious divorce.
That said … “irreconcilable differences’ is vague as hell and could mean just about anything.
Like it just means that they couldn’t get along, basically.
That’s why people divorce in the first place, folks.
But clearly they’re not entirely at odds.
Summer Phoenix is seeking joint legal custody and joint physical custody of the boys with Casey Affleck.
She is also seeking spousal support.
Casey Affleck and Summer Phoenix met in 1995 after their more famous siblings had worked together.
They were engaged by 2003.
It wasn’t until a couple of years after Summer gave birth to Indiana in 2004 that the couple married in May of 2006.
They separated just under eight years after marrying.
For Hollywood, that’s basically a 20-year marriage.
Considering that their relationship began in 1995, they had a lengthy relationship by any standards.
But even long-lasting relationships where both parties come from similar worlds, share similar values, and take years to get to know one another before getting engaged or married don’t guarantee happily-ever-afters.
We can’t help thinking that a factor behind this separation and divorce may have been Casey Affleck’s alleged sexual harassment.
The accusations that Casey Affleck used his position as director to sexually harass multiple women working for him got him slammed on Twitter, but
Some of the accusations just sound like poor judgment — allegedly, Casey instructed one man working for him to show his penis to a woman who was working for him.
Definitely inappropriate and definitely poor judgment, but when we’re talking about directors and sex crime accusations, that’s a far cry from Woody Allen.
Some of the accusations were more serious, including allegations of him grabbing one in an effort to intimidate her into having sex with him in a hotel room.
If someone feels that “no” isn’t a safe answer, then they cannot consent. Obviously.
Even if Summer Phoenix heard these stories and thought to herself that all of these women were conspiring together to lie just for the fun of it, that Casey had just been innocently flirting with them … well, it wouldn’t seem innocent to Summer, his wife.
And if Summer heard these allegations and thought “oh no, what sort of man have I married?!” Well, divorce sounds like exactly the right response to that.
But, for all that we know, their divorce has been a long time coming.
Sometimes couples just grow apart.
