Ben Affleck Saying He ‘Started Drinking’ Because Of His ‘Trapped’ Marriage To Jennifer Garner Is Not Sitting Well With People

In an interview this week on The Howard Stern Show, actor Ben Affleck discussed his marriage to Jennifer Garner. They began dating in mid-2004 after previously working together on Pearl Harbor and Daredevil (that’s already a lot of red flags) before getting married in 2005. They had three kids (and Affleck reportedly had a tryst with a nanny) before announcing their intention to divorce in 2015 and officially splitting up in 2018. Affleck and Garner have remained in each other’s lives, however, including the time she drove him to rehab — which makes his comments on Stern all the more curious.

“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,” he said, adding that he’d “probably still be drinking” if they remained together. “It’s part of why I started drinking… because I was trapped.”

And while Ben and Jennifer were no longer in love, he said it wasn’t the dramatic breakup that was portrayed in the media. As he put it, “We had a marriage that didn’t work. This happens. She’s somebody I love and respect, but to whom I shouldn’t be married any longer… We did it amicably. We did our best. Did we have moments of tension? Did we have disagreements over custody? Was stuff difficult for us? Did we get angry?” he continued. “Yes, but fundamentally it was always underpinned with a respect.”

Affleck blaming his issues with alcohol on his marriage is not sitting well with people.

https://twitter.com/JulieKCohn/status/1471022420555272194

(Via E! Online)