Ben Affleck hits back against backlash over his Howard Stern interview
By Matt Moore
Ben Affleck appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday night. It offered the actor a chance to respond to criticism he received following an interview with Howard Stern in which the The Tender Bar star seemed to partly blame his alcoholism on his marriage to ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
The internet reacted swiftly when Affleck’s comments went online. As reported by People, Affleck told Stern that if he remained married to Garner “I’d probably still be drinking. It’s part of why I started drinking … because I was trapped.”
He went on to add “I was like ‘I can’t leave ’cause of my kids, but I’m not happy, what do I do?’ What I did was drink a bottle of scotch and fall asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution.”
Many people on social media quickly pointed out that Garner helped Affleck through his alcohol addiction even after their divorce. His name was trending on Twitter as the public weighed in on his comments. Wednesday night, Affleck had his turn to respond.
Ben Affleck says his words were twisted, denies blaming anyone for his troubles
Ben Affleck wasted no time in addressing the elephant in the room. Jimmy Kimmel may have wanted to ease into the interview and praise Affleck for The Tender Bar, but the actor clearly wanted to get to his Howard Stern comments.
According to Affleck, he felt extremely proud of the interview and how he discussed co-parenting with Jennifer Garner. He claimed that a media outlet twisted his words and pulled quotes out of context, making it sound like he was a terrible person.
Affleck went on to deliver a stern denial of that report, making it clear that it was the opposite of what he told Stern. Affleck told Kimmel:
"That’s not true. 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 ever think I would say a bad word about their mom. It hurts my feelings."
While the veteran actor and tabloid fixture understands that life in the spotlight isn’t always rosy, he indicated that he draws a line when his children become part of the story. Kimmel agreed that the backlash seemed overblown and acknowledged how upset Affleck was over the situation.
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