The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Zac and Jen Affleck’s family tree is under scrutiny.
After the Hulu reality series premiered, viewers wanted to know more about the connection between the Utah Affleck family and their supposed cousins, Ben and Casey Affleck. However, online genealogy sleuths say that the ties just aren’t there.
On the show, Jen says her father-in-law, David Affleck, is the cousin of the famous brothers. Jen first addressed Zac’s familial ties to the Gone Girl star in a TikTok shared in September 2022, shortly after Ben and Jennifer Lopez got married in Vegas and she took the actor’s last name.
“When you thought you were going to be the next JLO. But instead … she stole your name & you’re busting it down to Ms. Rachel,” the MomTok star wrote alongside a video of her dancing to “Wheels on the Bus.”
A source familiar with the Utah Affleck family tells PEOPLE exclusively that the relationship between the Utah Afflecks and the Boston Afflecks “is absolutely not true.”
“There’s no relationship. I just don’t think that’s very fair about that either,” the source explains, noting that the Mormon faith takes genealogy very seriously.
“So Zac Affleck is her husband. [His father] is David Affleck. Zac’s grandfather is Gordon Affleck. Zac’s great-grandparents — which would [establish] second cousins — his name is Alan Burt Affleck. Then Ben’s dad is Tim Affleck. His grandfather is Myron Junior. His great-grandparent is Myron Senior. No, Alan Burt and Myron Senior aren’t brothers or anything,” the source claims.
A look back at each side’s family tree shows that while Zac’s family has ties back to England, Ben and Casey Affleck’s relatives date back to Scotland.
Reps for Jen and Zac and Hulu declined to comment on the matter. PEOPLE has also reached out to representatives for Ben and Casey Affleck.
