Ben Affleck reflected on the “deliberately mischaracterized” comments he made about his relationship with alcohol during his marriage to Jennifer Garner.
For context, Ben and Jennifer married in 2005 and welcomed three children together before announcing their split in 2015.
Her divorce was finally completed in 2018, and in the years since, Ben and Jennifer seem to have remained strong and friendly coparent relationship in favor of their three children together – Violet, 17, Seraphina, 14, and Samuel, 11.
After checking into a rehabilitation facility for the first time 2001, Ben has been open about his difficulties with alcohol. During his marriage to Jennifer in 2008, 2017, and again in 2018, he sought treatment for his addiction several times after their divorce was finalized.
Ben has publicly credited Jennifer for her unwavering support during these times and has previously spoken openly about his addiction being a major cause of their breakup, saying in 2020 that he started drinking “more and more” when their marriage “broke up,” which only led to “more marital problems.”
And in December 2021, Ben faced backlash after apparently blaming his marriage to Jennifer for his struggles with alcoholism Howard Stern that he had felt “trapped” towards the end of their 10-year relationship.
“The truth was we took our time, we made the decision, we grew apart,” he said of the marriage’s failure. “We had a marriage that didn’t work out.”
“We tried because we had kids,” he continued. “We didn’t want it to be the model of marriage for the children. We have done our best. I knew she was a good mom and I hoped she knew I was a good dad.”
Ben continued to be explicit about his alcohol addiction, telling the host that if he and Jennifer were still married, he “would probably still be drinking.”
“One reason I started drinking alcohol was because I felt trapped,” he said. “I thought, ‘I can’t go because of my kids, but I’m not happy. What can I do?’ I drank a bottle of scotch and fell asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution.”
Given how much Ben previously praised Jennifer for her love and support during his recovery, people found it shocking and disappointing that he seemingly claimed she was in some way responsible for his addiction.
In fact, the backlash became so severe that the actor was forced to continue addressing the criticism during a performance Jimmy Kimmel Live A few days later where he appeared visibly emotional as he insisted he would never say “a bad word” about his ex.
“I had gone ahead and said how much we respect and care for each other, and take care of our kids and put them first and go through our stuff,” he explained, saying the quotes, taken out of context, put him that way made a “terrible guy” appear.
“It’s the complete opposite of who I am, what I believe,” he said of the allegations that he “blamed” Jennifer. “I would never want my kids to think I would ever say a bad word about their mother. Because I never had it, I would never do it.”
Visibly hurt and frustrated, he concluded by saying that being the subject of media scrutiny was “just kind of a cost of doing business as an actor,” but that he had a duty to protect his family.
“Not with my kids. Do not do that. It is wrong. It hurts me, it hurts them. Stop it,” he said.
Well, a lot has changed for Ben in the time since. He married Jennifer Lopez in July last year and now he’s back in the spotlight to promote his new movie. Air.
sitting with the Hollywood reporter In an in-depth interview published yesterday, the two-time Oscar winner revealed his fears at being publicly vulnerable after his comments about his ex were taken out of context.
“I look at these things as landmines where if you say the wrong thing your career could be over,” he said. “I had a really painful experience doing an interview where I was really vulnerable and the whole pickup was something that not only wasn’t right, it was actually the opposite of what I meant.”
Author Rebecca Keegan then asked Ben if he was referring to his comments about Howard Stern in 2021, urging him to speak at more length than ever about the controversy.
“The idea that I blame my wife for my drinking,” he clarified. “To be clear, my behavior is entirely my responsibility.”
Trying to better contextualize the original quotes, Ben said the point he wanted to make was “a sad one” about the pain of his divorce.
“I was trying to say, ‘Hey look, I’ve been drinking too much, and the less happy you get, be it your job, your marriage, it’s just that your life gets harder when you’re doing things when you.’ fill a hole that’s not healthy, you’re going to start doing more of those things,” he said.
Ben said he felt his words were “rather articulate” and called the outlets, which he claims have “purposefully mischaracterized it to make it clickbait.”
“It didn’t matter how many times I said, ‘I don’t feel like that. I’m telling you, I don’t blame my ex-wife for my alcoholism,'” he reflected on the backlash at the time.
Coming back to the present, Ben said his current wife, Jennifer Lopez, gave him some advice when it comes to being vulnerable in public.
“It’s hard. But anyway, so [Jennifer] tell me today: ‘Relax, be yourself. Have fun. You’re actually a funny guy who’s genuine and genuine and just seems so serious,'” he said, before praising the singer.
“But like so many things, she’s really right. And she loves me. She takes care of me. She’s trying to help me. So it’s like maybe I should fucking listen to her,” he concluded.
