Being the child of an A-list celebrity couple seems like it would be a dream. A life filled with endless opportunities and wealth? All the benefits of being famous without actually putting any work in? What’s not to be jealous about?
However, there’s an undeniable dark side to having high-profile parents, and Jennifer Garner is opening up about her daughter’s devastation after being kicked off a local soccer team.
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If you know me, you know Jennifer Garner is one of my favorite celebrities of all time. She is pure sunshine!
Not only is she a great actress, but she’s also a great mom, too!
During her marriage to Ben Affleck, the pair welcomed three children together — son Samuel, 9, and daughters Seraphina, 12, and Violet, 15.
Now, in a new interview, the 48-year-old is opening up about how the paparazzi have affected her children.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter Jennifer admitted she doesn’t have family photos because her children were traumatized by paparazzi cameras when they were younger.
Anyone who has watched even one entertainment news show from back in the day wouldn’t be surprised by this.
While paparazzi today are still overwhelming, they used to have no boundaries.
Having to explain these photographers to her children was hard for Jennifer.
“When they were smaller and there were things out there that were shocking, my request to them was always, ‘Let Dad and I talk you through whatever it is,’ ” Jennifer said.
“I’d tell them, ‘If you see an image on the front of a magazine, I’ll look at it with you and we’ll process all the scary feelings that come up together.’ “
Jennifer went on to share the story of her oldest, Violet, speaking out about paparazzi while she was younger.
“She stood up on a chair in a little velvet dress, with her hair a bit back and her glasses on and she didn’t say her R’s right, and she said: ‘We didn’t ask for this.”
“We don’t want these cameras, they’re scary.”
She continued: “The men are scary, they knock each other over and it’s hard to feel like a kid when you’re being chased.'”
Normal, everyday tasks were plagued by invasive photogs.
Recalling the morning school run, Jennifer explained the anxiety and stress it caused her young family at the time.
“I’d go do a school run and it’d be 15 cars going with me.”
“I never had a day without them, and if I did, if I made it to a park by hiding in the bottom of the pool man’s truck or something, then a nanny would see me there and call a number and they’d swarm.”
She then went on to recall one of the more heartbreaking stories that affected her daughter’s ability to do something totally normal.
“My one daughter tried to play soccer and it was such a zoo for the families that they just said, ‘Can you please not.'”
To make matters worse, Jennifer’s daughter was kindergarten age at the time.
Thankfully, this circus all came to a stop in 2013.
As fans may recall, Jennifer and a team of celebrity parents (led by Halle Berry) decided to take action on the paparazzi issue and passed a bill that made it a crime for photogs to photograph children without permission.
This victory meant Jennifer’s kids, and celebrity kids across California could have a slightly more normal childhood.
Still, these same laws don’t exist in several other states, leaving celebrity kids vulnerable to invasive photogs.
h/t: The Hollywood Reporter .
