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Separated by about twenty ters, Sandra yelled, "Jenny, go look at TMZ, TMZ!"
Jennifer Garner nodded, gestured to the opposite side, and hurriedly ran downstairs. After turning on her computer, she visited the TMZ website.
The headlines on the hopage were striking, with an exaggerated number of videos recorded, and the victims' harrowing accusations.
As a Hollywood actress, Garner was not unfamiliar with such matters, but she had never expected her husband, once a victim himself, to beco one of those who inflicted harm.
Hearing the victim nad Hailey recounting how her husband had forced other actresses to go to hotels and then what ensued, Garner had not the slightest doubt.
It was all too normal.
But normality didn't an she could accept it.
Garner stood up and went to the kitchen, first noticing the kitchen knives. She pulled one out but, thinking of the children, she put it back.
She opened the refrigerator, saw a large bucket of ice water, picked it up, and went upstairs, kicking open the bedroom door.
That disgusting sll of stale alcohol made her want to vomit.
Garner quickly approached the bed, eyed Ben's bearded, long face full of stubble, grabbed the bucket, and doused his head with the ice-cold water.
Ben jerked awake instinctively, struggling to understand what was happening when a bucket was slamd down on his head.
"Notify your lawyer. Get ready for a divorce," Garner said without another word, and turned to leave.
Ben pulled off the bucket, shivering with cold, grabbed a towel to wipe off the water from his body, and yelled, "Are you out of your ****ing mind? What the hell is wrong with you!"
No one replied, as if he was the only person in this house.
Ben roared a few tis but got no response. Holding back his rage, he went to the shower, leisurely took a hot bath, changed into dry clothes, and then ca downstairs.
As the sound of a car's engine roared to life outside, Ben saw Jennifer Garner driving away with the children.
"What crazy **** is she up to?" he seethed with anger.
Suddenly, Ben noticed the wet footprints coming from downstairs and hastily ran to the basent storage room, only to find the massive safe almost empty, as if it had been robbed.
It couldn't have been robbed by anyone but Jennifer Garner.
Ben swore as he went upstairs to grab the cordless phone, preparing to call Garner's cell phone, but his glance caught the computer screen.
The computer was on; he tapped the keyboard, and the dark monitor lit up, displaying the TMZ website.
After carefully reading the shocking news, Ben felt colder than the bucket of water that had drenched him.
The video and audio recordings were all too familiar.
Because he had been behind them all.
Ben no longer cared about Garner; he picked up the phone and dialed Matt Damon's number. When the line connected, he said, "I've got trouble."
"What's going on?" Matt was unaware of the unfolding events.
Ben quickly explained, and Matt went to check his computer.
Not long after, Matt said, "You need to find Hailey right now, keep her mouth shut. I'll call TMZ and ask them to pull the news."
"I'll warn that *****, tell her to shut up!" Ben was accustod to handling things this way.
Matt snapped, "Have you lost your mind? Pay her off, get her to sign a settlent agreent. The longer this drags on, the more endless troubles you'll face."
He stressed, "Think about Pitt! If this blows up, those female students will turn into hungry wolves like Pitt's nannies, ready to tear into your flesh!"
Ben agreed, "Got it, I'm on it."
No sooner had he hung up the phone than the doorbell rang—the Los Angeles Police Departnt had co to visit.
Ben first called his lawyer and agent, then went to answer the door.
The mont the door opened, the leading PD presented a subpoena and said, "Mr. Affleck, you are suspected of an earnest harm case and need to cooperate with our investigation."
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Surrounding them, the reporters were frantically taking photographs.
Ben, following his lawyer's advice, cooperated with the Los Angeles Police Departnt to assist with the investigation.
It didn't even take ten minutes before the video of Ben being invited by the LAPD for coffee appeared on TMZ's website.
In Burbank, Jody t up with her classmate Tina.
After the news broke on TMZ, everything beca very simple.
Jody opened her iPhone and showed Tina the video of Ben being taken for coffee by the LAPD, saying, "The humiliation he cast upon us... we should reclaim it all. Hailey has already co forward and chosen to call the police."
Having mingled in the Los Angeles acting circle for a while, Tina was very direct, "If I co forward, how much money can I get?"
"The victims of Pitt Nannygate, all together, received an average compensation of 690,000 US dollars each," Jody ntioned this intentionally to remind her, "The more tangible evidence you can acquire, the higher the compensation you get."
Hearing this, Tina laughed, "I've got a pair of pants with so... stuff on them. Ben made many promises at the ti, and I was afraid he'd go back on them, so I kept it specially."
Only those who have been in the acting business know how hard it is to stand out. Instead of betting on an uncertain future, it's better to secure millions of dollars and enjoy life.
That sa day, Tina went to the LAPD with her pants and other evidence to file a report.
She then accepted an interview with TMZ right after.
The Performance School scandal totally erupted.
With these two precedents, and the groundwork laid out by Jody, more female students ca forward successively.
Among all celebrities, Jennifer Garner was the first to make a public statent, announcing her intention to divorce Ben.
The videos were enough to land Ben in a myriad of troubles.
Jas Franco couldn't wait to call a press conference where he solemnly declared he was terminating his collaboration with Ben's acting school and that he wouldn't be working with Ben ever again in the future.
He even visited several of the girls who had co forward, issuing them a formal apology, giving them so financial compensation, and stated he would provide any help they needed.
Jas Franco was naturally trying to distance himself first, ensuring the fire didn't spread to him before addressing anything else.
Originally, Ben was trying to compete for a supporting role in Universal Pictures' "National Affairs."
The production crew quickly denied any rumors, stating they had never considered Ben as an option for the cast.
As the public outcry grew, the three leading voices of the Mitu movent, ryl Strip, Jennifer Aniston, and Angelina Jolie also spoke out in due ti, expressing concern for the situation. They went together to visit so of the affected girls, weeping with them and giving speeches against Ben at the scene.
Therefore, Ben's ex-girlfriend and also Gwyneth Paltrow, another forr girlfriend of his, stepped in to seize attention by trampling rcilessly on her ex-boyfriend again, "I'm not surprised at all by this; Ben had tried to seduce underage girls while we were dating. I warned that girl and broke up with Ben because of it!"
Perhaps Ben was indeed too despicable; his ex-girlfriends united in an onslaught, with Latin pop queen Jennifer Lopez also speaking out publicly, saying that after their breakup years ago, Ben repeatedly described how repulsive she was, accusing her of jinxing his career, calling her a curse.
The dia's focus also put a great deal of pressure on the LAPD, and after their preliminary investigations, they announced so findings: for example, the TMZ videos had not been edited and were all authentic recordings.
Like evidence provided by so victims, Ben's DNA was found, among other things.
Before scandals burst into the open, people often harbor many concerns, but once an exploitable situation erges, they rush to join the fray.
In addition to the acting class's won, females from past productions who had worked with Ben also ca forward, loudly voicing Mitu.
In the past, too many won had been intimidated by Ben in production crews.
Although many, thinking of their future, still kept silent, the number of those who did step forward was already substantial.
Ben Affleck was bailed out by Matt Damon and had just arrived ho when he found hundreds of protesters congregated at his doorstep.
Under the banner of Mitu, they sat in for a long ti in front of his house, offering support to the victims and denouncing the perpetrator.
Ben started paying his debt for his actions: his wife filed for divorce, the LAPD restricted his travel, the dia vilified him, and victims filed for large sums in compensation...
When Harvey Weinstein sent soone to visit him, he brought a ssage: Ben should watch his mouth.
Ben had always kept his lips sealed in this regard, as after all, Harvey was one of the few who could help him.
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