Ben Affleck Says Jennifer Garner Marriage Was ‘Part of Why’ He Started Drinking, Recalls Feeling ‘Trapped’: Rare Interview Revelations

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Ben Affleck Says Jennifer Garner Marriage Was 'Part of Why' He Started Drinking, Recalls Feeling 'Trapped': Rare Interview Revelations

Rare candor. Ben Affleck reflected on his marriage to Jennifer Garner in a new interview — and he didn't hold back. The Argo director, 49, appeared on the Tuesday, December 14, episode of The Howard Stern Show to promote his new film The Tender Bar, but he also shared some details about why he and his ex-wife, also 49, called it quits in 2015. "The truth was, we took our time, we made a decision, we grew apart," Affleck told host Howard Stern. "We had a marriage that did not work. This happens. It is somebody I love and respect, but to whom I should not be married any longer." The Oscar winner and the 13 Going on 30 star tied the knot in June 2005 after meeting on the set of Pearl Harbor five years earlier. The duo share daughters Violet, 16, and Seraphina, 12, and son Samuel, 9. The director has since reunited with ex-fiancée Jennifer Lopez, while Garner moved on with John Miller. At the time of the former couple's split, rumors swirled that Affleck had an affair with the children's then-nanny, Christine Ouzounian. The Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice star denied the speculation via his representative, who called the reports "complete garbage and full of lies" in July 2015. [jwplayer Ajzt7J6r] Garner, for her part, later told Vanity Fair that she and Affleck decided to split up long before Ouzounian, 34, entered the picture. “We had been separated for months before I ever heard about the nanny," the Juno actress said in February 2016. "She had nothing to do with our decision to divorce. She was not a part of the equation. Bad judgment? Yes. It’s not great for your kids for [a nanny] to disappear from their lives.” Last year, the Way Back actor revealed that he struggled with alcoholism more as he and Garner began experiencing more difficulties in their relationship. “I drank relatively normally for a long time," he told The New York Times in February 2020. "What happened was that I started drinking more and more when my marriage was falling apart. This was 2015, 2016. My drinking, of course, created more marital problems.” On Tuesday, Affleck admitted that he "would probably still be drinking" if he were still married to Garner. "And then we said, 'You know what? We tried. We tried, because we had kids,'" the Good Will Hunting star recalled, adding that he thought he and his ex-wife "would have ended up at each other's throats" if they stayed together. "Both of us felt like, 'We don't want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage.'" Keep scrolling for more reveals from Affleck's interview with Stern: [podcast_block]

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How Drinking Was a Factor

The Gone Girl star said that he began to drink more as his marriage to Garner unraveled. "That was part of why I started drinking alcohol — I was trapped," he said. "I was like, 'I can't leave because of my kids, but I am not happy. What do I do?' What I did was drink a bottle of scotch on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution."

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Mutual Respect

Despite their difficulties, Affleck said that he and Garner "amicably" ended their marriage. "Did we have moments of tension? Did we have disagreements over the custody? Was stuff difficult for us? Did we get angry? Yes," he explained. "But fundamentally it was always underpinned with respect. I knew she was a good mom. I hope that she knew that I was a good dad. I was. I had to get sober — I knew that too — and I acknowledged that. I said, 'You're right. I've got to quit drinking.'"

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Reuniting With J. Lo

Affleck admitted that he was somewhat hesitant to rekindle his romance with Lopez, 52, because of how much attention he knew it would garner. The pair, who were initially together from 2002 to 2004, started dating again in May.

“It crossed my mind for sure," he told Stern of the spotlight on his relationship with the Grammy winner. "My responsibility to my children is the highest responsibility. I don’t want to do anything that is painful or destructive to them if I can help it. ... My life affects them. Me and their mom are celebrities. That is hard. That is a cross to bear."