Ben Affleck is working overtime to clarify some of the things that put his name in the headlines earlier this week!
As we’ve been reporting, the Rounders star opened up to radio host Howard Stern a few days ago, reflecting on his marriage to Jennifer Garner and eventual divorce. At issue was one particular quote from Ben, who revealed to Howard that he’d felt “trapped” in the marriage, which led him to drink alcohol in a very unhealthy way.
Related: Ben Affleck Opens Up About What Caused His First Split From Jennifer Lopez
The quote did not go over well online, and it seemed like everybody had a reaction to what Ben was saying about his co-parent and former partner — including Garner herself. And so Wednesday night proved to be the perfect time for a soft landing for the Gone Girl alum, when he opted to go on Jimmy Kimmel‘s talk show to try to smooth things over.
Insisting that his initial interview with Stern was woefully taken out of context for headlines and internet clicks, Affleck explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he’d initially been really proud of his chat with the radio shock jock:
“It was a really cool, long-form, in-depth, two hour interview. And since the movie [I was promoting] is about family and all this stuff that’s meaningful to me, we talked a lot about family and divorce and alcoholism and struggling with real things, and how you have to be accountable. And [we talked about] how I work with my ex-wife and how I’m so proud that we work together for our kids the best that we can for them. So, the irony is, I was really happy with it [before the headlines]. I thought, ‘Wow, I should do more honest, exploratory, self-evaluating things.”
Well, that’s one way to look at it! Ben’s a longtime veteran of this industry, though, and so he knows how things get pulled out and picked apart — even if, as he said to Kimmel, that means taking stuff “out of context.” So when the 49-year-old actor went on Twitter in the hours after his Stern chat, he started to see that things weren’t developing the way he’d been hoping regarding his comments on Garner:
“I researched through it and saw that one of these websites had done the clickbait thing. They had literally taken the conversation that I had for two hours and made it seem like I was saying the exact opposite of what I said.”
Well, OK.
But just to be fair to the situation, Ben did say this (below), 100% verbatim on the original Howard Stern interview:
“We probably would’ve ended up at each other’s throats. I probably still would’ve been drinking. Part of why I started drinking was because I was trapped.”
Like, how else should people take that?? That is SUPER shady, as we argued at the time! Come on, Ben! Regardless, he really took issue with how the ensuing fallout related to the three children he shares with Jen — 16-year-old Violet, 12-year-old Seraphina, and 9-year-old Samuel. Affleck concluded:
“When it’s about my kids, I have to just draw a line and be clear — it’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 think that I would ever say a bad thing about their mom. Being the subject of [something like this] is just the cost of doing business a little bit, but not with my kids. It’s wrong. It hurts me.”
We understand that part, at least!
Here is Affleck’s full turn on Kimmel from Wednesday night, with his discussion of Garner and the Stern comments coming in the first half of the interview:
Well then!
What do U think, Perezcious readers?? Should U give Affleck the benefit of the doubt on things supposedly being taken out of context here? Or did he say something that maybe he shouldn’t have said?! Sound OFF with your thoughts down in the comments (below)…
[Image via Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube/FayesVision/WENN]
The post Ben Affleck Speaks Out — Calls THOSE Jennifer Garner Comments 'Clickbait' & 'Exact Opposite Of What I Said' appeared first on Perez Hilton.