Entertainment

Ben Affleck Says Reports He Blamed Garner For His ‘Alcoholism’ Are Wrong

(Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Katie Jerkovich Entertainment Reporter
Font Size:

Ben Affleck spoke out to correct the record after reports surfaced he said he felt “trapped” in his marriage to ex-Jennifer Garner and blamed her for his “alcoholism.”

“I had gone on and said how much we respect each other and cared about each other and cared about our kids and put them first and went through our stuff,” the 49-year-old actor explained during his appearance on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” show. The comments were noted by E! News in a piece published Thursday.

Affleck said he felt really good about the interview until he went on social media and said one of these websites did the “click bait” thing. The superstar actor said the article said he “blamed” his ex-wife for his “alcoholism.”

“And that I was trapped in this marriage,” he added. “Just made me out to be like the worst, most insensitive, stupid, awful guy.” (RELATED: REPORT: Alex Rodriguez Is ‘Shocked’ That Jennifer Lopez Has ‘Moved On’ With Ben Affleck)

WATCH:

“That’s not true,” Affleck continued. “I don’t believe that. It’s the exact opposite of who I am, what I believe and I would never want my kids to think I would ever say a bad word about their mom…it hurts my feelings.” (RELATED: Ben Affleck Opens Up About How His Alcoholism Almost Ruined His Family)

During his appearance on Sirius XM “The Howard Stern Show,” the “Justice League” star said “probably still would’ve been drinking” if they were still married, Page Six reported Tuesday.

“Part of why I started drinking was because I was trapped,” he said. “I was like, ‘I can’t leave because of my kids, but I’m not happy, what do I do?’ And what I did was [I] drank a bottle of scotch and fell asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution.”

“Ultimately, we tried, we tried, we tried because we had kids, but both of us felt like we didn’t want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage,” he added. “Everything you read [in the news about the divorce] was bulls–t. The truth was we took our time, we made our decision … We grew apart.”

The “Gone Girl” star said Garner is someone he loves and respects, but that they had “a marriage that didn’t work” and shouldn’t be “married any longer.”

At one point, “The Last Duel” star talked about his path to sobriety and said the cure to “addiction is suffering” and that it’s after a person suffers enough “that something inside you” says it’s done.

Since the Stern interview came out, people close to Garner have reportedly spoken out and are not happy with what he said, Page Six reported Thursday.

“It’s disgusting,” one insider who reportedly knows both Affleck and Garner shared. “Jen has been the only one picking him up time and time again when he’s done horrible things — fallen off the wagon or worse.”

“Jen stood by him because she loves him,” the source added. “This is the mother of his children.”

Another insider reportedly told the outlet, “Anyone who knows addict behavior knows how untrue those comments could be for any addict, but particularly Ben. It’s one of the first tenets of AA not to place blame for your disease.”

Ben has recently been linked romantically with his former fiancée, actress Jennifer Lopez. Affleck was married to Garner from 2005-2018 and share three kids together. He and Lopez were engaged in the early 2000s before reports surfaced that they were back together in April 2021.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel