Kevin Smith’s Wife Encouraged Him to Reconnect with Ben Affleck (Exclusive)

Kevin Smith is sharing why he isn’t reaching out to his friend Ben Affleck right now.

While attending the San Diego Comic-Con 2024 on Saturday, July 27, the filmmaker, 53, spoke exclusively to PEOPLE and said his wife Jennifer Schwalbach Smith urged him to “reach out” to Affleck, 51, amid the reports of strain in his marriage to Jennifer Lopez.

“Obviously, he’s been going through a thing, or at least that’s what it says in the press and whatnot,” Smith told PEOPLE at the convention. “I, being his least trustworthy friend who’s very loose-lipped… My wife was like, ‘Oh, you should reach out to him.’”

The actor and director decided in the end it was probably best not to follow his wife’s advice.

“I was like, ‘The last person he needs to hear from right now is the guy who chats a lot,'” Smith says. “So when he’s in a good place, he’ll let me know.”

He shares that he will likely reach out to Affleck soon as he gears up to start work on the next Jay and Silent Bob movie in the rebooted franchise, in which Affleck previously appeared.

“We shoot in the fall, so I’ll be reaching out to him,” Smith tells PEOPLE. “He may even come play, but I haven’t been anywhere near the situation. I keep reading. You guys have been providing most of the information that I know.”

Smith and Affleck have a long history after working and appearing together in many of Smith’s earlier films, including Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Clerks II (2006), Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019) and Clerks III (2002).

The filmmaker’s comments about Affleck come as there has been speculation over the status of Affleck’s marriage to Lopez, 55, as the pair have remained on separate coasts in recent weeks, with the actor in L.A. and the singer in New York.

The couple also spent their second wedding anniversary apart and multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE that Affleck didn’t attend Lopez’s recent Bridgerton-themed birthday bash in the Hamptons on July 24.

Smith, his wife and his Jay and Silent Bob costar Jason Mewes attended the Lopez and Affleck’s wedding celebration with over 100 others at Affleck’s 87-acre compound on Hampton Island Preserve in Georgia in July 2022.

The filmmaker also spent time with Lopez and Affleck when he directed them in the 2004 film Jersey Girl. When the pair reunited in 2021, Smith took credit for their iconic couple name “Bennifer” on X (formerly Twitter).

Smith recalls last catching up with Affleck and Lopez as the couple attended the world premiere of Air together in Los Angeles in March 2023.

“They are my very famous friends. They hang out with very famous people. I saw Ben and Jen at the Air premiere last and talked to them for 20 minutes,” he tells PEOPLE.

Source: PEOPLE, Getty