Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s extremely high-profile relationship came to an end a year after they called off their wedding. The actor soon found love again in Jennifer Garner who he got married to in June 2005. Ben Affleck has three children with the actress. However, this relationship did not last long either as they announced their separation in 2015, and their divorce got finalized three years later.
Before their divorce, though, Ben Affleck opened up about completing his alcohol addiction treatment. He thanked Jennifer Garner for her support, which got a positive reaction from the fans. However, Ben Affleck’s words about why he started drinking in the first place received a lot of heat on social media. Why? Well, it looked like he was blaming it all on his marriage.
Did Ben Affleck Blame Jennifer Garner for His Addiction Issues?
Ben Affleck showed up for an interview on The Howard Stern Show back in 2021, where he opened up about his marriage with Jennifer Garner. He started off by talking about why the pair split despite a decade of being married. According to Affleck, while there was still love and respect in the relationship, he soon realized that it didn’t mean they should remain married.
“We had a marriage that didn’t work. This happens. It was somebody I love and respect but to whom I shouldn’t be married [to] any longer.”
However, he decided to give his marriage a few more tries for the sake of their children. Perhaps feeling overwhelmed with his emotions, Affleck turned to alcohol. He would drink and spend the night on the couch, something both he and Garner realized wasn’t a good model for the children.
“I was like, ‘I can’t leave because of my kids, but I’m not happy, what do I do?’ And what I did was [I] drank a bottle of scotch and fell asleep on the couch which turned out not to be the solution…Both of us felt like we don’t want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage.”
What Affleck said next took the media and the Internet by storm:
“I’d probably still be drinking. Part of why I started drinking alcohol was because I felt trapped.”
Everyone believed that the Good Will Hunting actor was putting the blame for his alcohol addiction on his ex-wife and their marriage. Affleck faced a ton of backlash for throwing Garner under the bus in such a humiliating way.
Ben Affleck Gives a Clarification
Since everyone was painting Affleck to be the bad guy in this scenario, he had to say something. During his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the actor talked about how what he thought was an honest and raw conversation from his side, resulted in a negative eruption on social media, much to his surprise.
“We talked a lot about my family, you know, alcoholism, struggling with real things, how you have to be accountable and loving, how I work with my ex-wife, how I’m so proud of the way we work together for our kids, the best that we can for them. I was thrilled. I thought, ‘Wow, I should do more honest, exploratory, self-evaluating things.’ Then I start seeing all this stuff come up on Twitter. And I was like, ‘What is this?’”
Affleck then recalled how a website had twisted and turned his two-hour-long conversation around to make it sound like he was disrespecting Garner and their marriage, something he would never do.
“[The website had] literally taken the conversation that I had had for two hours and made it seem as if I was saying the exact opposite of what I had said. It said that I had blamed my ex-wife for my alcoholism, that I was trapped in this marriage, just made me out to be the worst, most insensitive, stupid, awful guy.”
He then stated that in the interview he actually talked about him and Garner respecting and caring for each other and putting their children first. Affleck added, “I would never want my kids to think I would ever say a bad word about their mom.” While the media does have a tendency of twisting words, it’s admirable that Affleck stood up and cleared the confusion surrounding one of the most important elements of his life.
Today, Affleck is married to Jennifer Lopez and Garner is in a happy relationship with boyfriend John Miller, as the ex-couple continues to co-parent their children.
Source: The Howard Stern Show
