Ben Affleck mirrored on the “intentionally mischaracterized” feedback he made about his relationship with alcohol all through his marriage to Jennifer Garner.
For context, Ben and Jennifer received married in 2005, and welcomed three youngsters collectively earlier than saying their break up in 2015.
Their divorce was finally finalized in 2018, and within the years since, Ben and Jennifer look to have maintained a robust and pleasant coparenting relationship to the advantage of their three shared youngsters — Violet, 17, Seraphina, 14, and Samuel, 11.
After first checking right into a rehab facility in 2001, Ben has spoken candidly about his difficulties with alcohol. He sought remedy for his habit on a number of events all through his marriage to Jennifer in 2008, 2017, and once more in 2018 after their divorce was finalized.
Ben has publicly credited Jennifer for her unwavering help throughout these durations, and has beforehand opened up about how his habit was one of many fundamental causes of their break up, saying in 2020 that he began ingesting “increasingly more” as their marriage was “falling aside,” which solely led to “extra marital issues.”
And in December 2021, Ben confronted intense backlash after he seemingly blamed his struggles with alcoholism on his marriage to Jennifer, telling Howard Stern that he’d felt “trapped” in direction of the top of their 10-year relationship.
“The reality was we took our time, we made the choice, we grew aside,” he mentioned of the wedding breakdown. “We had a wedding that did not work.”
“We tried as a result of we had youngsters,” he continued. “We didn’t need it to be the mannequin of marriage for the children. We did our greatest. I knew she was mother, and I hoped she knew I used to be dad.”
Occurring to speak about his alcohol habit extra explicitly, Ben instructed the host that if he and Jennifer have been nonetheless married he’d “most likely nonetheless be ingesting.”
“A part of why I began ingesting alcohol was as a result of I felt trapped,” he mentioned. “I used to be like ‘I am unable to depart due to my youngsters, however I am not comfortable. What do I do?’ What I did was drink a bottle of scotch and go to sleep on the sofa, which turned out to not be the answer.”
Given how a lot Ben had beforehand praised Jennifer for her love and help throughout his restoration, individuals discovered it surprising and disappointing that he’d seemingly recommend she was in any approach to blame for his habit.
In truth, the backlash turned so intense that the actor was pressured to handle the criticism throughout an look on Jimmy Kimmel Stay a number of days later, the place seemed visibly emotional as he insisted that he’d by no means “say a nasty phrase” about his ex.
“I had gone on and mentioned how a lot we respect one another and cared about one another, and cared about our children and put them first and went by way of our stuff,” he defined, saying that the quotes taken out of context made him seem like an “terrible man.”
“It’s the precise reverse of who I’m, what I consider,” he mentioned of the accusations that he’d “blamed” Jennifer. “I’d by no means need my youngsters to suppose I’d ever say a nasty phrase about their mother. As a result of I by no means had, I by no means would.”
Visibly harm and annoyed, he concluded by saying that being the topic of media scrutiny “is simply form of the price of doing enterprise as an actor,” however that he has an obligation to guard his household.
“Not with my youngsters. Don’t do this. It’s incorrect. It hurts me, it hurts them. Cease that,” he mentioned.
Effectively, within the time since, rather a lot has modified for Ben. In July final yr, he tied the knot with Jennifer Lopez, and now he’s again within the limelight selling his new film, Air.
Sitting down with the Hollywood Reporter for a wide-ranging interview printed yesterday, the two-time Oscar winner expressed apprehension about being publicly susceptible after his feedback about his ex received taken out of context.
“I view these items as land mines, the place if you happen to say one incorrect factor, your profession may be over,” he mentioned. “I had a very painful expertise the place I did an interview the place I used to be actually susceptible, and all the pickup was one thing that was not solely not proper, it was really the other of what I meant.”
The author, Rebecca Keegan, adopted up by asking Ben if he was referring to his feedback to Howard Stern in 2021, prompting him to speak concerning the controversy in additional element than ever earlier than.
“The concept I used to be blaming my spouse for my ingesting,” he clarified. “To be clear, my conduct is my accountability fully.”
Trying to higher contextualize the unique quotes, Ben mentioned the purpose he was meaning to make was “a tragic one” concerning the painfulness of his divorce.
“I used to be attempting to say, “Hey, look, I used to be ingesting an excessive amount of, and the much less comfortable you turn into, whether or not it’s your job, your marriage, it’s simply that as your life turns into harder, if you happen to’re doing issues to fill a gap that aren’t wholesome, you’re going to begin doing extra of these issues,’” he mentioned.
Saying that he felt he’d been “fairly articulate” together with his phrases, Ben referred to as out the retailers that he claims “intentionally mischaracterized it in an effort to make it clickbait.”
“It didn’t matter what number of occasions I mentioned, ‘I don’t really feel this fashion. I’m telling you, I don’t blame my ex-wife for my alcoholism,’” he mirrored on the backlash on the time.
Coming again to the current, Ben mentioned that his present spouse, Jennifer Lopez, provided him some phrases of recommendation relating to being susceptible within the public eye.
“It’s exhausting. However anyway, so [Jennifer] tells me at the moment, ‘Loosen up, be your self. Have enjoyable. You’re really a enjoyable man who’s actual and real and also you simply appear so critical,’” he mentioned, earlier than happening to reward the singer.
“However as in lots of issues, she’s actually proper. And he or she loves me. She’s searching for me. She’s attempting to assist me. So it’s like, perhaps I should fucking hearken to her,” he concluded.
