Hicks: Ben Affleck still talks to Jennifer Lopez

Bennifer lives! Sort of ... .

Promoting his new political thriller "Argo" in the latest issue of the Hollywood Reporter, Ben Affleck said he still keeps in touch with one-time fiancee Jennifer Lopez, and that Jennifer Garner's stalker inspired him to keep guns in his house.

I'd have thought he'd keep guns in his house just to keep Matt Damon away at 4 a.m.

Despite recently blasting his Bennifer period as one of the worst phases in his life, Affleck said he has nothing but respect for Lopez:

"We don't have the kind of relationship where she relies on me for advice, but we do have the kind of relationship where there'll be an e-mail saying, 'Oh, your movie looks great,'" Affleck said. "I remember when she got 'American Idol.' I said: 'This was really smart. Good luck.' I touch base. I respect her. I like her. She's put up with some stuff that was unfair in her life, and I'm really pleased to see her successful."

About his wife Jennifer Garner, Affleck said Garner's stalker (who was arrested in Dec. 2009) "gave me a stronger sense of feeling protective about my family' -- which means that he also keeps guns in the house. Affleck and Garner, both 40, married in 2005 and have three children together.

Affleck also reveals what originally attracted him to his wife of seven years. "She truly is kind. She means no one any harm. She doesn't have ill will for any person. She's not competitive with other people. She's

not spiteful," he said. "It's one of those things where it becomes almost aggravating at times. Every time I go, ' (expletive) him!' I see in her face that she just thinks that's petty and small."

Affleck directed and stars in "Argo," a true story about a CIA operative who goes undercover to rescue six American hostages out of 1979 Iran. The movie opens in theaters Friday, Oct. 12.

THIS SOUNDS COMPLETELY NORMAL: Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon, her "adopted" brother, are engaged.

Uh ... eww.

Brown broke t! he news to her dismayed family members on a sneak peek of "The Houstons: On Our Own," the upcoming new Lifetime reality show starring the surviving loved ones of Whitney Houston.

In a new clip of the show (previewed at E!), Bobbi Kristina nervously says "we're engaged!"

Starring Bobbi Kristina, Whitney Houston's brother Gary, the late singer's sister-in-law (and former manager) Patricia Houston and matriarch Cissy Houston, the controversial new series will depict how the family has grappled with the aftermath of Whitney's Feb. 11 death.

Bobbi Kristina's unconventional relationship with Gordon goes back to when he was 12 and Houston informally adopted him. Raised like brother and sister, the twosome were "always close," a source told Us Weekly back in March. Their relationship "has evolved a lot" and they are "living like a couple" in Atlanta.

That doesn't sound like evolution.

Bobbi Kristina was spotted wearing a huge diamond ring this past spring.

Says Bobbi Kristina (whose father is Houston's ex-husband, Bobby Brown) to her beloved in the promo for "The Houstons": "They wanna see us fail. I've got one thing to say: 'You won't!'"

Of course not.

JUSTIN BIEBER MAY HAVE NAKED PHOTOS ON THE INTERNET: Justin Bieber may have naked pictures on the Internet.

Four million girls started screaming before I even finished typing that last line.

A day after Justin Bieber tweeted that a camera and laptop containing "personal footage" was stolen from his tour manager's office during a tour stop in Tacoma, Wash., a nude picture is now being floated around on Twitter purporting to be of the teen idol, according to E! News.

C'mon. I was under the impression Justin Bieber doesn't even get naked in the shower.

Bieber's camp hasn't commented so far.

The shot in question, which has since been taken down, shows a naked young man's torso and lower extremities, with the guy sporting a bird tattoo on his hip -- the same spot that Bieber has such a tatt! oo on his! body.

However, as Zap2it.com reports, Beliebers are noticing the naked guy's bellybutton isn't the same as Bieber's, and his nipples don't match up.

They know his bellybutton?

Plus, some fans say the photo was online before Bieber's stuff got swiped.

The photo scandal and theft aren't the only headaches the 18-year-old singer is encountering this week.

Early Wednesday morning, Bieber's L.A. home was the target of a prank when a SWAT team arrived after police received an emergency message that someone was waving a gun nearby. Police determined the report was a hoax after a call to Bieber's security team at the residence.

But the Biebs did get some food news (we think), he's distantly related to fellow Canadian stars Ryan Gosling, Avril Lavigne and Celine Dion, genealogists at Ancestry.com told the Associated Press Thursday.

All four celebs have connections to the earliest settlers of Quebec 400 years ago, the researchers said.

NELLY DIDN'T GET THE MEMO: Apparently Nelly and his people don't read the newspaper.

The rapper was detained Wednesday night on suspicion of heroin and marijuana possession at the same Texas checkpoint where Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, Armie Hammer and Fiona Apple all got popped

Police at the Sierra Blanca checkpoint searched Nelly's tour bus, allegedly finding a loaded .45 pistol, 36 small baggies of heroin and more than ten pounds of marijuana inside a large green duffel bag.

There were six other people riding on the bus with Nelly, all of whom were detained during the search, according to TMZ. A law enforcement sources, passenger Brian Keith Jones admitted the drugs and the gun were his and was subsequently arrested. Everyone else was let go.

TMZ said its calls to Nelly's reps were not return! ed.

BRITNEY SPEARS IS DOING PRETTY WELL: Britney Spears has more money than you.

She might even have more money than me.

Because it's always fascinating to hear how the other side lives, TMZ obtained documents filed in Spears' conservatorship case. As of December 31, 2010, the conservators reported assets totaling $32,376,140.90. Sources connected with the conservatorship told TMZ, that figure does not include a number of valuable assets.

On top of that, since 2010, Spears had a successful concert tour that raked in $68 million and she signed a $15 million deal with "X Factor."

TMZ got the 2010 breakdown of spending at the Spears house, including:

Child Support and Care: $303,673.72

Cleaning expenses: $27,265

Personal grooming and wardrobe: $61,295.12

Automobile expenses: $59,351.92 (and she didn't even buy a car that year)

Rent for Calabasas house: $19,000 a month

Electric Bill: $5,629.43 in just one month

Gas Bill: $1,841 in just one month

Water Bill: $2,278.27 in just one month

At the end of 2010, Spears had cash on hand totaling $14,740,566.71.

Contact Tony Hicks at thicks@bayareanewsgroup.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks.

OCTOBER 12 IN HISTORY

Friday is Oct. 12, the 286th day of 2012. There are 80 days left in the year.

1492: (According to the Old Style calendar), Christopher Columbus arrived with his expedition in the present-day Bahamas.

1810: The German festival Oktoberfest was first held in Munich to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

1870: General Robert E. Lee died in Lexington, Va., at age 63.

1915: English nurse Edith! Cavell w! as executed by the Germans in occupied Belgium during World War I.

1933: Bank robber John Dillinger escaped from a jail in Allen County, Ohio, with the help of his gang, who killed the sheriff, Jess Sarber.

1942: During World War II, American naval forces defeated the Japanese in the Battle of Cape Esperance. Attorney General Francis Biddle announced during a Columbus Day celebration at Carnegie Hall in New York that Italian nationals in the United States would no longer be considered enemy aliens.

1960: Japanese Socialist Party leader Inejiro Asanuma was stabbed to death during a televised debate in Tokyo by an ultranationalist student, Otoya Yamaguchi, who hanged himself in jail.

1962: The devastating Columbus Day Storm, also known as the "Big Blow," struck the Pacific Northwest, resulting in some 50 deaths.

1971: The rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway.

1986: The superpower meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, ended in stalemate, with President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev unable to agree on arms control or a date for a full-fledged summit in the United States.

1987: Former Gov. Alfred ("Alf") M. Landon, R-Kan., died at his Topeka home at age 100.

1997: Singer John Denver was killed in the crash of his privately built aircraft in Monterey Bay, Calif.; he was 53.

2000: Seventeen sailors were killed in a suicide bomb attack on the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen.

2002: Bombs blamed on al-Qaida-linked militants destroyed a nightclub on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people, including 88 Australians and seven Americans.

2007: Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize for sounding the alarm over global warming. A fiery, 34-vehicle pileup at a freeway tunnel in Santa Clarita, Calif., left three people dead. A jury in Panama City, Fla., acquitted seven former juvenile boot camp guards and a nurse in! the deat! h of Martin Lee Anderson, a black teenager.

2011: A Nigerian al-Qaida operative pleaded guilty to trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his underwear; Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab defiantly told a federal judge in Detroit that he acted in retaliation for the killing of Muslims worldwide. Eight people were killed in a shooting at a hair salon in Seal Beach, Calif. (Scott Dekraai, whose ex-wife, Michelle Fournier, was among the victims, is awaiting trial.)

BIRTHDAYS

Comedian-activist Dick Gregory (80), singer Sam Moore (formerly of Sam and Dave) (77), broadcast journalist Chris Wallace (65), actress-singer Susan Anton (62), jazz musician Chris Botti (50), actor Hugh Jackman (44), actor Adam Rich (44), country musician Martie Maguire (The Dixie Chicks) (43), actor Kirk Cameron (42), Olympic gold medal skier Bode Miller (35), actor Josh Hutcherson (20).

Associated Press