Ben Affleck reflects on divorce from Jennifer Garner: 'We tried, we tried, because we had kids'
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner split amicably in 2015, but the divorce was finalized in 2018, and enough time has passed for Affleck to clearly assess what went wrong.
During Tuesday's (Dec. 14) The Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM, the two-time Oscar winner opened up about how his 10-year marriage to Garner broke down and the influence their three children had on their decision:
"The truth was, we took our time, we made the decision," Affleck, 49, said. "We grew apart. We had a marriage that didn't work. This happens. It's somebody I love and respect but to whom I shouldn't be married any longer."
There was a more complicated underlying nature, though. Affleck admitted that he thinks he would "probably still be drinking" if he remained married to Garner. "I was trapped," he shared. "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 drink a bottle of scotch and fall asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution."
Affleck has entered rehabilitation treatment for an alcohol addiction in 2001, 2017 and 2018.
Elsewhere with Stern, Affleck emphasized that his divorce wasn't any more dramatic than most. "We did it amicably," he said. "We did our best. Did we have moments of tension? Did we have disagreements over the custody? Was stuff difficult for us? Did we get angry? Yes. But fundamentally, it was always underpinned with respect."
"We tried, we tried, because we had kids," the actor, director and writer continued. "Both of us felt like, we don't want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage."
Affleck and Garner share daughters Violet, 16, and Seraphina, 12, and son Samuel, 9.
Affleck rekindled his relationship with Jennifer Lopez earlier this year, and the Bennifer resurgence was confirmed by Lopez around her 52nd birthday in late July.
Garner has been on-and-off with businessman John C. Miller since 2018.
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