Ben Affleck Recalls ‘Painful’ Mischaracterization of Jennifer Garner Comments: ‘I Don’t Blame My Ex-Wife for My Alcoholism’

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 Not her fault. Ben Affleck is setting the record straight about past comments he made about his split from ex-wife Jennifer Garner.“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,” the Gone Girl star, 50, said in his Hollywood Reporter cover story, which was published on Thursday, March 15.Affleck recalled the fallout from his December 2021 interview with Howard Stern where he spoke candidly about his struggles with addiction and his divorce from Garner, 50, with whom he shares daughters Violet, 17, and Seraphina, 14, and son Samuel, 11.The Argo director explained that the public’s takeaway from his conversation with Stern, 69, was “that I was blaming [Jennifer] for my drinking.”In order to view the video, please allow Manage CookiesHe added: “To be clear, my behavior is my responsibility entirely.

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?’”The California native further clarified what he meant to convey at the time.“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.’ I think I was pretty articulate about that,” he said. “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.”Affleck noted that he and the 13 Going on 30 actress — who announced their split in