The April 22 debut of Selling Sunset’s fifth season had a few shockers in store – even beyond just the L.A. real estate price tags and expected co-worker drama. Main castmate Emma Hernan was dishing to her co-star Chrishell Stause about her previous experiences on Raya, an exclusive dating app, when Ben Affleck’s name came up. She said the actor “may or may not have asked to grab coffee a few times” through the app, and that they had been “texting” just prior to his renewed romance with now-fiancée JLo. News of this supposed online match prompted a response first from Affleck himself, with Hernan following up to set the record straight.
Ben Affleck's Side Of The Selling Sunset Raya Story
As Emma Hernan initially described the encounter on Selling Sunset, Ben Affleck had used their shared Boston background as his “opening pickup line” to her on Raya. And Chrishell Stause seemingly got a peek at the alleged messages herself on the show. A representative for the Good Will Hunting star didn’t exactly deny the match, but they did suggest that the credibility of the claim's time factor was questionable, saying in a statement to TODAY:
Raya has confirmed that he has not been an active member for several years.
Yet, Ben Affleck had a known dating account on Raya as recently as the beginning of 2021. The Oscar winner’s foray on the app eventually made him go viral for chatting up several young women at the time. He had been dating his Deep Water co-star for most of 2020, and then later started dating JLo again in April 2021, leaving several months of bachelordom. All of which just further complicates the timeline for the Selling Sunset alum’s casual remark that her match with him was “right before” Bennifer.
Selling Sunset Star Clarifies Ben Affleck Flirtation
Emma Hernan was candid about turning down the A-List celeb. In the wake of all the hoopla over timing and logistics, though, she shared to E!’s Daily Pop that it wasn’t exactly as scandalous as viewers perceived it to be (or, perhaps, how the Selling Sunset edit made it appear), in regards to where it landed in regards to his and JLo's rekindling. The sophomore castmate said:
It was not recent. This was 2019. It was the smallest, most innocent thing and it blew up out of proportion. End of story.
To be fair, that whole situation blew up precisely because of that Selling Sunset exchange. After Chrishell Stause said Emma Hernan could have “foiled Bennifer,” Hernan seemingly agreed that “maybe that wouldn’t have happened” if she had followed through with Ben Affleck on Raya. The implication left in viewers' brains was that the exchange was actually close enough to Affleck and JLo’s reunion that Hernan could’ve legitimately thwarted the prospect.
Alas, the King of Hollywood and the Queen of Frozen Empanadas and Real Estate weren’t meant to be. Ben Affleck has since proposed to Jennifer Lopez (for the second time), with a huge green engagement ring (of personal meaning to JLo) and a bubble bathtub involved in that BTS scenario. Maybe Hernan will get an invite to the wedding, though.
Ben Affleck is possibly in good company, because Selling Sunset’s Jason Oppenheim is as equally not happy about Season 5's dirty laundry being aired out. For optics purposes, both might want to steer clear from the Raya app for the foreseeable future.
Fans can check out Selling Sunset's latest drama-filled episodes on the platform, as well as plenty of other upcoming shows on our 2022 Netflix TV schedule!
