Bennifer stans and Rip and Beth diehards are shaking hands in the wake of Ben Affleck's recent comments about wife Jennifer Lopez's Yellowstone fandom. In a March 22 appearance alongside lifelong friend and Air co-star Matt Damon on The Bill Simmons Podcast, the Oscar-winning actor-director revealed that J Lo's obsession with Rip and Beth's romance on the show has left him "kind of disturbed." Oh, and Matt Damon had something to say about the Cole Hauser of it all.
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"I'm kind of disturbed that my wife really likes Yellowstone," Affleck admitted, adding that he suspects Rip and Beth's epic love story is to blame for his wife's unlikely obsession with the Taylor Sheridan series. "Part of me thinks that she's really drawn to the romance between Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly."
You're telling me that Jennifer Lopez — who famously tied the knot with Affleck in 2022, having reconnected with the Argo director nearly 20 years after breaking off their first engagement in 2004 — is drawn to the story of star-crossed childhood sweethearts Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton finally getting hitched? Color me surprised.
Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser as Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler on Yellowstone (Paramount Network)
Affleck added that Lopez even made him watch one of her favorite Beth scenes (and it's a great one): "Jen showed me a clip of her off of Instagram, the monologue she has with the kid in the car about the ways to become rich."
The scene is likely Beth's "four ways to get rich" speech directed at Finn Little's young ranch hand Carter in Yellowstone season 4. "You learn, you fail. Learn more, fail more. And don't let anyone outwork you, ever," Beth tells the boy. So Jenny from the Block, who used to have a little and now has a lot, resonates with Beth's hard-knock outlook on the world? Shocker.
Affleck went on to praise Cole Hauser's performance as Rip Wheeler, with Matt Damon adding that Hauser is "pure, raw talent" and "the sweetest soul." Both Affleck and Damon starred alongside Hauser in 1992's School Ties.
"To tell you the truth, I was always mystified that Cole wasn't a giant movie star," Damon said. "When we worked with him, he was 16. And I'll never forget we were driving back into Boston and we were leaving set for the first week, and we're like, 'Who's the best actor here?' and both of us at the same time were like, 'Hauser.' He was pure, raw talent. Just the sweetest soul."
"He is very convincing as that guy," Affleck said, noting the near-magical hold Hauser's ranch hand has on the country. "I think America believes he is Rip."
READ MORE: Cole Hauser's Un-Rip-Like Dance Moves Go Viral in TikTok
