Exclusive | Kick Kennedy and Ben Affleck were linked in 2020 — until he fell for Ana de Armas: source

Kick Kennedy and Ben Affleck started hanging out before the Oscar winner began dating “Blonde” star Ana de Armas in March 2020, sources told Page Six.

As Page Six reported, Affleck and Kennedy have been spotted together at the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Polo Lounge over the past few months.

However, it appears they have been friends for longer than previously thought.

“Their friendship has been going on for a long time, even before Ana,” a Hollywood insider told Page Six. “When Ben started seeing Ana in 2020 and decided to quarantine with her during COVID, Kick was not very happy.”

After things turned sour with wife Jennifer Lopez earlier this year, we’re told Affleck reconnected with Kik and they became friends again.

Multiple sources have confirmed to People magazine that Affleck, 52, and Kennedy, 36, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are “spending time together.” A spokesperson for Affleck denied that they were dating, telling the outlet on Tuesday, “There’s no truth to it. I don’t know if they even know each other.”

A Hollywood source who has worked with Affleck told us, “Affleck would love nothing more than to be part of the Kennedy family. It’s a dream for any Boston boy … I think he would much rather do that than live a billion-dollar, red-carpet glamour life with J.Lo.”

Affleck’s spokesperson told Page Six: “This is not true. They are not hanging out.” Page Six has contacted Kennedy.

Affleck fell in love with de Armas, 36, on the set of his movie “Deep Water” in New Orleans.

Although she moved in with him during the pandemic lockdown, the relationship ended by January 2021.

“Ben is no longer dating Ana,” a source told People at the time. “He broke it off. Their relationship was complicated. Ana doesn’t want to live in Los Angeles and Ben obviously has to because his kids live in Los Angeles.”

Another source said they were at different points in their lives and that Affleck “wanted to work on himself.”

But in April of that year, Affleck was once again spotted with his fiancée of 19 years, Lopez – who had just announced her breakup from her ex-fiancé Alex Rodriguez.

Affleck and Lopez will marry in July 2022 in a late-night ceremony in Las Vegas, followed by a lavish, star-studded party at Affleck’s estate in Atlanta.

Lopez, 55, filed for divorce from Affleck last week on their second wedding anniversary, citing irreconcilable differences.

De Armas, who has been dating Tinder executive Paul Boukadakis for the past few years, later told Elle that being followed and obsessed by the paparazzi during her relationship with Affleck was “terrible.”

“That’s one of the reasons I left L.A.,” he said. “Going through that just solidified in my mind that ‘this is not a place for me to live.'”