Ben Affleck clears the air.
He addressed the backlash following statements he made in 2021 about his previous marriage to actress Jennifer Garner when chatting on Howard Stern in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that was published on Thursday.
“I had a really painful experience where I did an interview where I was really vulnerable, and the entire pickup was something that was not only not right, it was actually the opposite of what I meant.” Affleck told THR.
Following his comments that he felt "trapped" in the interaction with Garner, the actor and director received criticism.
“It’s part of why I started drinking,” Affleck told Stern. “Because I was trapped.”
According to Affleck, he wasn't trying to pin Garner's binge-drinking on her.
“To be clear, my behavior is my responsibility entirely,” he said.
“The point that I was trying to make was a sad one. Anyone who’s been through divorce makes that calculus of, How much do we try? We loved each other. We care about each other. We have respect for each other,” Affleck said in the new interview.
“I was trying to say, ‘Hey, look, I was drinking too much, and the less happy you become, whether it’s your job, your marriage, it’s just that as your life becomes more difficult, if you’re doing things to fill a hole that aren’t healthy, you’re going to start doing more of those things.’”
In the end, the couple divorced in 2015.
Affleck syas his quotes were “mischaracterized it in order to make it clickbait” and “it didn’t matter how many times I said, ‘I do not feel this way. I’m telling you, I don’t blame my ex-wife for my alcoholism.’”
Over 20 years after getting married and getting engaged for the first time, Affleck and Jennifer Lopez reconnected.
“[Jennifer Lopez] tells me today, ‘Relax, be yourself. Have fun. You’re actually a fun guy who is real and genuine and you just seem so serious,’” Affleck told THR.
“Do I seem serious? But as in many things, she’s really right. And she loves me. She’s looking out for me. She’s trying to help me.”
He also made an effort to dispel rumors that led to the meme "Ben Affleck having a bad time at the Grammys" because the two appeared to be reacting to the event in noticeably different ways.
Affleck claimed that while he was truly enjoying himself, he had a "Oh, God" moment as Grammy host Trevor Noah approached them.
“They were framing us in this shot, but I didn’t know they were rolling. I leaned into her and I was like, ‘As soon they start rolling, I’m going to slide away from you and leave you sitting next to Trevor,’” Affleck explained.
“She goes, ‘You better f—ing not leave.’ That’s a husband-and-wife thing. I mean, some of it is, I’m like, ‘All right, who is this act?’ Like, I don’t keep up. My wife does, obviously. And yeah, it is your wife’s work event.”
