Being a celebrity is a tricky thing. While it might offer money and opportunities that many of us dream of, it also makes one’s personal life into a very public matter. Multihyphenate Ben Affleck knows this all too well, as there have been countless headlines about his love life, sobriety journey, and family. And now Affleck has opened up about ex-wife Jennifer Garner and his kids after backlash over previous comments.
Ben Affleck was recently interviewed in a long-form format by Howard Stern, opening up about his sobriety and co-parenting with Jennifer Garner. But he soon went viral after certain comments about his drinking were taken out of context. Now the Oscar winning filmmaker has gone on to share how much his children mean to him, saying:
My life is better and I am happier the more I am around my kids. We all want to pass on the best of ourselves to our children. I don’t care who you are, I’m quite sure you feel at some point in your life you’ve taken missteps, nobody wants to transfer that to our children and that is a real task that everybody faces, whatever those issues are
While Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck broke up years ago, they’ve continued to work together on co-parenting their kids. There’s a clear respect shared between the two A-listers, who are focused on creating the best life for their family. Even if said family ends up being a blended one down the line.
Ben Affleck’s comments come from a recent appearance on Good Morning America (via Us Magazine), where he promoted his latest release The Tender Bar. Eventually the conversation turned to the family unit he still maintains with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. Considering how his first comments basically broke the internet, smart money says this will be a common subject in interviews for the foreseeable future.
Those original comments from the Howard Stern Show featured Ben Affleck admitting that he was self-medicating with alcohol while attempting to stay married with Jennifer Garner despite the former couple’s unhappiness. The internet quickly went ablaze, forcing Affleck to clarify his comments during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel. He previously spoke about the truth of the Stern interview, saying:
And I looked on it, and they had literally taken a conversation I had had for two hours and made it seem as if I was saying the exact opposite of what I said. I went on and said how much we respect each other, and care about each other, and cared about our kids and put them first. And they said I had blamed my ex-wife for my alcoholism and I was trapped in this marriage. Just made me out to be the worst, most insensitive, stupid, awful guy.
Since the Howard Stern interview excerpt went viral, both Ben Affleck and his current girlfriend Jennifer Lopez have had to respond to the comments. But given the trio of A-listers involved, these type of viral stories are unfortunately part of the territory. Luckily it seems like there’s no actual conflict happening from within the family.
Ben Affleck’s The Tender Bar is in theaters now, while Jennifer Lopez’s Marry Me will follow suit on February 11th. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
