Splash NewsBen Affleck's nightmare continues—because his former nanny just won't go away!
Christine Ouzounian, meanwhile, remains at the center of a story that refuses to disappear, very quickly going from fired employee caught in the crosshairs to the nanny from hell.
When it was alleged that Ben had been having a fling with a woman hired to help care for his children, he strenuously denied it. But regardless of whether the duo really did cozy up or not, Christine has proved adept at hogging the headlines.
Talk about it being hard to find good help these days!
And it's definitely difficult to find a good nanny, whether you're a celebrity parent or not or have an exclusive Beverly Hills nanny agency on your side.
The No. 1 question I am asked about this story is, Why on earth did Jennifer hire such a young, pretty lady for the task? I am not sure what it was about Christine that clinched the job, but I do know that the last thing Jen expected was that Christine might end up with her husband. Yes, Ben and Jen were separated when the alleged relationship was said to have occurred...but he was still her husband!
When you start to type the name "Christine" into Google's search bar, the first suggested "Christine" that pops up is Christine Ouzounian. The story has become one of the biggest celebrity scandals of the year, presumably very much due to the idea that someone with such intimate knowledge of your family could swoop in like this.
I expect that Jen and Ben thought this scandal would go away. Once Ben denied it, that would put a damper on the excitement, take the wind out of the story's sails. And aside from the nighttime snaps of Ben and Christine, as she took champagne to his house in mid-July, there were no new pictures to keep the story in the headlines. Well, at least there weren't, until Christine supposedly started publishing them herself.
Now the story really won't die—it keeps growing, and the main reason for that is the nanny herself.
This week, a friend of mine happened to spot Christine lunching with friends at Beverly Hills restaurant Il Pastaio, the kind of place people go to be seen, and as a result, it's often frequented by the paparazzi.
My spy was in total shock about how much Christine seemed to be lapping up the attention during her lunch outing; she was loud and acting as if she wanted to be watched. After arriving at the eatery and giving her waiter a kiss on the cheek, she then sat down at an outside table, in full view of any obliging photographers, and ordered the first of three glasses of rosé wine.
"She was laughing very loudly and kept flicking her hair while she gossiped with her friends," the eyewitness observed. "Every so often she would stop talking so she could check her reflection in the outside window of the restaurant. She would then take a selfie...In between the picture-taking and laughing, she would toast her wine glass."
It's pretty clear Christine is not done with her time in the spotlight. I've seen this before, someone who was no one gets a bit of attention, even notoriety, and it becomes a drug. You only need to watch the first-ever video of Christine, the day after the scandal broke, as she exits her house and smiles at the camera to know that she enjoyed every morsel of her first taste of fame.
When she drove to the restaurant the other day, she got into her brand new Lexus convertible. Before she pressed the accelerator, she took down the roof of the car, again giving the paps ample opportunity to snap her. It was the same vehicle she had proudly put on social media just a day before. Her Instagram account might be private, but she is followed by over 2,000 people. She has to be really naive to think that what she posts could possibly stay a secret considering there's a figurative price on her head.
She must know how it works by now, because when news first leaked of a rumored fling with her former boss, it was because Christine had allegedly revealed all to a friend.
Christine had been burned, her anonymity gone, she had become the face of a scandal—so at the very least you'd think she would have walked away from that experience questioning who to trust. Instagram should have been the last place she'd turn to in order to share news of an expensive new toy. Unless, of course, she wanted it to be exposed.
In the days after the scandal broke, we were told by a source that Christine had said she hoped to end up with Ben.
But smiling for the paps and flaunting her new wheels is not the right way to go about that, because this is exactly what the Oscar winner doesn't want!
Her enjoyment of the limelight feels like a taunt in some way. We think she's going away...and then she pops up again in a new car, lunching in Beverly Hills. Why?
If Christine feels slighted, if she thought she was going to be in a relationship with Ben and that hasn't happened, then could this be some sort of revenge? It definitely feels as though she is reminding him and Jen that she can still get the attention of the world's media at the snap of a finger.
It's going to take a very trusting woman to want to hire her as a nanny after this. In some ways, Christine doesn't have anything to lose because it's going to be nearly impossible for her to return to her former life anytime soon.
Ben and Jen hired and fired the wrong person. She might be out of their life in a professional sense, but she's obviously not ready to give up the limelight just yet.
Don't miss E! News tonight at 7 p.m. & 11 p.m. for more inside info on Christine Ouzounian and the ongoing nanny saga!