Ben Affleck is so done with being misconstrued over comments he once made to Howard Stern about ex-wife Jennifer Garner. Now, in a new interview, he’s clearing the air on the matter of Jennifer and his alcoholism once and for all — and he takes full responsibility. “The idea that I was blaming my wife for my drinking,” the Argo star, 50, told The Hollywood Reporter in the March 16 report. “To be clear, my behavior is my responsibility entirely.”
He then went on to describe how he feels, and felt in the past, about the Alias actress, also 50, with whom he shares three children. “The point that I was trying to make was a sad one,” he continued. “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. 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.'”
The Oscar winning screenwriter then clarified that he believed his 2021 comments, in which he used the word “trapped” in relation to his marriage and divorce, were “articulate” from the outset. “I think I was pretty articulate about that,” he explained, then went on to add that once it had been mischaracterized, “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.’ So, yeah. It’s hard.”
On a much more positive note, he shared how his new wife Jennifer Lopez, 53, has supported him. “But anyway, so [J Lo] 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.’ 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. So it’s like, maybe I ought to f***ing listen to her.