Ben Affleck, who is currently dating Latina superstar Jennifer Lopez, appeared to blame his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, for his alcoholism in a recent interview with Howard Stern. "Part of why I started drinking was because I was trapped," said Ben, who has been in rehab for his drinking problem multiple times.
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Fans were not having it, though, and quickly took to the internet to defend Jennifer Garner, whom Ben was married to for over 10 years after his infamous split from J.Lo back in 2004. Ben shares three children with Jennifer Garner, and the public was quick to point out how wrong it is to blame someone else for his addiction, let alone the mother of his children.
Ben wasn't happy in his first marriage.
"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," Ben explained in the interview.
But he had issues with alcohol long before he and Jen Garner were married.
Ben's first stint in rehab goes all the way back to 2001, before his first romance with J.Lo and years ahead of his marriage to Jennifer, so it's definitely odd for him to try to pin the blame on his marriage.
And Jen was super supportive of him as he got sober.
Jen stood by Ben's side as he did stints in and out of rehab after their split. His alcoholism seemed to peak in 2018, when she had to drive him to rehab herself. Meanwhile, he was dating around and living recklessly while she took on the lion's share of parenting duties.
Ben claimed that if they were still married he wouldn't be sober.
"We probably would’ve ended up at each other’s throats. I probably still would’ve been drinking," Ben said on The Howard Stern Show, according to Page Six, which seems at odds with the lengths Jennifer went to as she helped him through his addiction.
He said he stayed for the kids.
"Ultimately, we tried, we tried, we tried because we had kids, but both of us felt like we didn’t want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage," Ben explained about their decision to finally split.
But he also voiced his respect for his ex-wife.
"Everything you read [in the news about the divorce] was [expletive]. The truth was we took our time, we made our decision…We grew apart," Ben said. "We had a marriage that didn’t work. This happens. She’s somebody I love and respect, but to whom I shouldn’t be married any longer," he continued.
They are on good terms.
"We did it amicably. We did our best. Did we have moments of tension? Did we have disagreements over custody? Was stuff difficult for us? Did we get angry? Yes, but fundamentally it was always underpinned with a respect," Ben explained to Howard.
It's about the kids.
“I knew she was a good mom. I always hoped she knew I was a good dad. I knew I was,” Ben concluded, summing up how they make their relationship as exes and co-parents work. Which has seemed to be the case for the past couple of years, with the two being spotted in public with their kids on multiple occasions, including on Halloween with J.Lo and her kids.
Still, Ben has received tons of criticism for the interview.
Ben may have been speaking his truth, but people called him out on it anyway. Many defended Jen Garner and pointed out her loyalty and commitment to the health and well-being of the father of her children.
Seemingly no one wants to let him get away with shifting the blame.
"So casually cruel in the name of being honest!" pointed out one Twitter user, who couldn't believe that he would throw Jen under the bus the way he did, also pointing out that Ben cheated on his wife, and she still looked out for him.
Some point out how hurtful this could be for his children.
Others pointed out that his words could be really difficult for his children to read or hear. They are 16, 12, and 9, so presumably all have internet access and the ability to understand what he said.
To sum it up...
Jennifer Garner is a class act and a kind soul, and literally everyone loves her, so Ben should have known better than to publicly humiliate her like he did. There was no way people were going to let this fly.
He may be in hot water with J.Lo now.
"[Lopez] is pissed," a source told Page Six. "She is getting pulled into this because she is dating him. She doesn’t want to be dragged into this," the source said.
J.Lo doesn't stand for negative press.
Jennifer Lopez is one celebrity who seems to not believe in negative press and tries to put a positive spin on everything, so it's not surprising she'd be upset about this. "She has met Jennifer Garner. She is trying to get to know her and Ben’s kids," the source said. "It’s reckless and cavalier of him."
He has since backpedaled.
The day after the Howard Stern interview, Ben appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and said that he thought the interview had gone well until he went online and saw how people interpreted his comments about his marriage. "I had gone on and said how much we respect each other and cared about each other and cared about our kids and put them first and went through our stuff," he explained. Then he went on to say that people who thought he was blaming his ex-wife "just made me out to be like the worst, most insensitive, stupid, awful guy….That's not true. I don't believe that. It's the exact opposite of who I am, what I believe and I would never want my kids to think I would ever say a bad word about their mom…it hurts my feelings," he said.
