Lindsay Shookus is a seven-time Emmy Award-nominated television producer for her work on Saturday Night Live. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate, who has only been able to win the award on one occasion, is, however, best known for her relationship with actor Ben Affleck which led to numerous speculations. Read on to find out more about her early beginnings, career, and relationship history.
Who is Lindsay Shookus
Lindsay Shookus was born Lindsay Anne Shookus to Robert and Christine Shookus on the 8th of June 1980 in Williamsville, New York. Her father was the owner of electronics and hardware company Nelson-Heintz & Shookus in Buffalo, New York, while her mother worked as a sales representative for the biotechnology company, Gilead Sciences.
Shookus spent her whole childhood in Williamsville where she attended Williamsville South High School before enrolling at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study journalism in 1998. In 2002, the young lady graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and almost soon after, landed her dream job, an assistant position to famed television producer and daughter of designer Calvin Klein, Marci Klein, who worked on 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live (SNL) and had discovered comedic acts like Tracy Morgan, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and Will Ferrell, among many others.
Lindsay Shookus held the position of production assistant until 2008 when she was promoted to the position of associate producer on SNL. Around this time, she also began contributing to 30 Rock and by 2010, she had producing credits on 45 episodes of the show. That same year, Shookus’ stock was on a meteoric rise as she became a co-producer of the legendary late night variety show. Her elevation did not stop there as the creator of SNL, Lorne Micheals, promoted her to the position of a producer in 2012. Her roles in this position included heading the show’s talent department, booking hosts and musical guests, as well as scouting and holding auditions for prospective cast members.
In 2015, Shookus’ outstanding work ethic and ability were evident for everybody to see as she put together an amazing show for the ‘Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special’ which featured celebrities like , , Steve Martin, and , among many others. The episode, which garnered massive television ratings, earned her an Emmy Award as well as an inclusion in Billboard’s 50 Most Powerful Music Executives list. In 2016, Shookus was again, named to the list as she further received more Emmy Award nominations.
What is Her Relationship With Ben Affleck?
Lindsay Shookus was rumoured to have been involved in an extra-marital affair with before the pair later began officially dating. The award-winning producer had been in an almost one decade-long relationship with fellow television producer Kevin Miller who she met when she first began to work on SNL in 2002 before going ahead to exchange vows in 2010. The two welcomed a daughter named Madeline in early 2013, the same time that several reports noted that Affleck, who was at the time married with three kids to actress , and Shookus had begun a flirtatious friendship.
According to the many reports, witnesses were said to have spotted the pair flirting heavily with each other at the afterparty of the premiere for the movie The Heat (2013). It was also reported that Affleck would always stop by to visit Shookus at the SNL studios whenever he was in New York and she would also fly out to Los Angeles to spend time with him. An unnamed source further said that Garner had suspected that her husband was having an affair with the producer after coming across “cute text messages” that signaled they were meeting up from time to time and could actually be sleeping together. The source further explained that Garner confronted Shookus about the affair and jewelry her husband bought for her. Garner was said to have asked Shookus to return it but she refused, saying she would only do so if Ben asked her to.
Shookus’ marriage ended a year later in 2014 while Affleck and Garner separated in June 2015 before ultimately filing for divorce in April 2017. From around this time, in June 2017 to be exact, Shookus and Affleck went public with their relationship, however, it all ended in mid-2018 after Affleck made headlines for stepping out on a dinner date with Playboy model Shauna Sexton.
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