The internet was sent into a tailspin earlier this week after actor and father Ben Affleck claimed he was “trapped” in his marriage with ex-wife Jennifer Garner, which lead to him breaking his sobriety.
Understandably, many fans felt this was an uncalled-for attack on the mother of his three children, and they’re taking to social media to defend the 49-year-old actress.
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Ben Affleck has recently been incredibly candid with fans about his substance abuse and his journey to sobriety.
Over the years, the actor has gone to rehab multiple, including in 2001, 2017, and 2018.
As fans will recall, Ben married Jennifer Garner in 2005 before separating in 2015. Their divorce was finalized in 2018.
In the years following the pair’s separation, Jennifer was spotted taking Ben to rehab and helping him in his sobriety process.
In a recent interview with Howard Stern, Ben Affleck gave fans a rare glimpse into his marriage to Jennifer.
Ben and Jennifer Garner share three children together: Violet, 16, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9.
When asked what his life would be like if he was still married to Jennifer, the actor said he’d “probably still be drinking.”
“It’s part of why I started drinking … because I was trapped,” he explained.
“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. 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.”
“We did it amicably. We did our best. Did we have moments of tension? Did we have disagreements over the custody? Was stuff difficult for us? Did we get angry? Yes,” he recalled.
“But fundamentally it was always underpinned with a respect.”
He continued: “I knew she was a good mom. I always hoped that she knew that I was a good dad; I knew I was.”
“I had to get sober, and I knew that too and I acknowledged that.”
After the remarks made by Ben, many fans took to social media to defend Jennifer.
“Is this man serious. is he seriously throwing Jennifer garner under the bus even though she was there for him in his lowest moments, taking him to rehab, keeping a dignified silence after their divorce, putting her kids and him first and this is how Ben Affleck repays her,” tweeted one fan.
Many fans took time to recall the instances that Jennifer helped Ben after they separated.
“Less than friendly reminder that Jennifer Garner drove his ass to rehab when they were already estranged and stopped to get him food at a drive-thru en route while she was supposed to be on vacation/break with their kids out of town,” one fan pointed out .
“When you can’t accept that your drinking problem is because of you, you still have a drinking problem,” said another Twitter user.
“Jennifer Garner didn’t drive Ben Affleck to drink, she did however drive him to rehab probably saving his life,” they added.
“For Ben Affleck to blame his ex-wife Jennifer Garner & their kids for his alcoholism, & for being ‘trapped’ in a marriage that he violated multiple times by cheating is wrong,” tweeted another.
“Men can never take accountability for their actions. He needs to get help & stop embarrassing Jennifer,” they added .
We’re sending Jen a big virtual hug right now!
