Ben Affleck is clarifying comments he made about his ex-wife and the mother of his three children, Jennifer Garner. Earlier this week, Ben sat down with Howard Stern and talked about what his life would be like if he was still married to Jennifer.
The comments caused a lot of backlash on social media and now, the actor is defending himself and clarifying his comments.
RELATED STORIES
Ben Affleck gave fans a rare glimpse into his marriage to Jennifer Garner in a recent interview with Howard Stern.
When asked what his life would be like if he was still married to Jennifer, the actor said he’d “probably still be drinking.”
He explained: “It’s part of why I started drinking … because I was trapped.”
“I was like ‘I can’t leave ’cause of my kids, but I’m not happy, what do I do?’ What I did was drink a bottle of scotch and fall asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution.”
“The truth was, we took our time, we made the decision … We grew apart,” he continued.
“We had a marriage that didn’t work, this happens, with somebody that I love and respect, but to whom I shouldn’t be married any longer,” he continued.
“Ultimately, we tried. We tried, we tried because we had kids. Both of us felt like we don’t want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage.”
Ben’s comments upset a lot of fans online, who took to social media to rally around Jennifer.
On Wednesday night, Ben went on Jimmy Kimmel and tried to explain what he meant by his remarks.
“I would never want my kids to think I would ever say a bad word about their mom,” he told Jimmy Kimmel, as per “People.”
He went on to say he thought the interview was “meaningful” and didn’t realize how his comments had been perceived until after.
Ben said he felt that some listeners had “taken the conversation” out of context.
He felt that the media had twisted his words and “made it seem as if I was doing the exact opposite of what I said” by focusing on just one part of his interview.
“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,” he added.
He insisted that the part highlighted by many fans were “just made me out to be the worst, most insensitive, stupid awful guy.”
He explained that when a misunderstanding like this occurs, he has to speak about it. “I have to draw a line, and be clear.”
“That’s not true. I don’t believe that. It’s the exact opposite of who I am, what I believe,” he concluded.
Of course, not everyone on social media was as open to hearing Ben’s explanation.
“Thank you @jimmykimmel for giving a safe space for your bestie, Ben Affleck, to over explain, whine and complain how he is misunderstood. His privileged, multimillionaire, A-list celebrity didn’t give him a platform to really work through his feelings,” wrote one Twitter user.
However, not everyone was so critical.
“thank you @jimmykimmel for giving @BenAffleck the opportunity to clear the air and tell the truth and thank you for being excellent at your job, not pushing your guests to speak about things they don’t want to (and also shouldn’t!) talk about! you’re the man,” tweeted one fan.
I’m happy Ben took the time to clarify what he meant, and I’m sure that means a lot to Jennifer as well!
And as long as things are good between Ben and the kids, that’s all fans should be worried about right now!
h/t: People
