Why Ben Affleck's Shauna Sexton fling was bad for his health — and his image

GIVEN how publicity-shy Ben Affleck can be, 22-year-old Playboy model Shauna Sexton seemed like an odd choice for a girlfriend.

In late August, after Affleck was admitted to alcohol rehab for a third time, Sexton was seen prancing around Los Angeles in a tank top and tiny shorts, clutching a tabloid with the actor’s face on it and smiling for the paparazzi.

And last week, when the 46-year-old actor whisked her to his home in Big Sky, Montana — a place where Affleck goes to escape the spotlight — Sexton took the opportunity to post photos of her troubled beau on Instagram.

Days later, when friends of Affleck told the media the brief relationship was over, Sexton adamantly denied the claims, telling a website: “‘Don’t believe everything you read on the internet!”

Sources say the only thing that’s unbelievable is that Affleck would date the model to begin with.

“I think it’s so belittling,” said a Hollywood source who knows Affleck. “He found a girl who he can just go out drinking with and (have sex with).”

Sexton has previously been arrested for underage drinking and public intoxication, and has bragged on social media about her love of drinking and partying.

“At the end of the day, in order to be in recovery, (Affleck) needs to be by himself and taking care of his family,” the Hollywood source said. “He’s being used by this girl. Anyone who drinks the way she drinks and is out there publicising it and their relationship has no respect for him or his family.”

Affleck’s life has been anything but camera-ready recently. Before entering rehab recently, he was seen looking bloated and sweaty in the back seat of estranged wife Jennifer Garner’s Range Rover, eating takeaway food on the way to the treatment facility. Garner, 46, had staged an intervention for Affleck, who has battled alcohol addiction for almost two decades. Last week, after his 40-day rehab stint, the duo, who have three children together, moved their divorce case to a private judge in order to speedily finalise it.

The couple filed for divorce in 2015 after rumours of Affleck cheating on Garner with their children’s nanny, Christine Ouzounian, and with Saturday Night Live producer Lindsay Shookus. (In a 2016 interview with Vanity Fair, Garner said: “We had been separated for months before I ever heard about the nanny. She had nothing to with our decision to divorce.”)

Garner allegedly confronted Shookus when she found text messages between the producer and Affleck in 2013, but Shookus “refused to stop” the dalliance, an insider told The Post in 2017.

Shookus and Affleck continued to date long-distance until August, when they broke things off, reportedly due to Affleck’s drinking problems — and his wandering eye.

“He was cheating on Lindsay while he was in rehab with an employee there,” said the Hollywood source of Affleck’s March 2017 treatment.

(The actor’s rep did not respond to requests for comment.)

Tinseltown execs are taking note of Affleck’s instability.

In August, representatives for an insurance company told The Wrap that Affleck could potentially lose his lucrative Batman role because of the increased cost of insuring the volatile star.

Now, even attention-loving Sexton is realising there are pitfalls to sticking with the leading man.

Her friend, photographer Martin Murillo, who’s been helping Sexton land a modelling agent, told The Post that all the publicity surrounding her romance is actually working to her disadvantage.

“Now that this whole thing has happened, it’s gotten harder,” said Murillo, who photographs the Sexton for her social media accounts.

“If I’m talking to an agent from LA Models, the first thing they (note) is that she’s dating Ben Affleck,” he said. “It could be a good thing, but I think they see it as, ‘Oh, here’s just another model wanting attention.’”

Murillo also claims Sexton, a Virginia native, was forced to leave her day job as a technician at Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Centre of Thousand Oaks, California, due to overwhelming paparazzi attention.

“I know it was affecting the people at her work so she decided to leave,” he said, adding that Sexton’s salary now comes from various Playmate events.

Days after Affleck went into treatment, Sexton posted a photo of herself at a restaurant, holding a glass of wine, leading Affleck fans to accuse Sexton of steering the Argo director down a bad path.

But Sexton defended herself on Instagram, copping to past mistakes and admitting she loves “to drink and party! Absolutely dude”.

“Do these mistakes mean I would disrespect someone’s hard-earned sobriety by drinking with them or in front of them? Hell no,” she wrote.

“With that being said, Ben is a grown ass man, baby. He makes his own decisions. Blaming a 22-year-old for someone’s 3rd time in rehab is just ridiculous … We all are going to f**k up, it’s just a matter of learning from it.”

According to Entertainment Tonight, Garner and Affleck’s sober counsellors urged him to cut ties with Sexton.

“He has a lot of money and right now he’s still young enough that he needs to get his sh*t together,” the Hollywood source said.

Otherwise, “one day he will drink too much and something bad will happen”.

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and is republished here with permission.

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