After making headlines for rekindling his romance with ex-fiancée Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck opened up to Howard Stern about what led to the downfall of his marriage to Jennifer Garner.
In a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show, the actor and Academy Award winning writer and producer told Stern his divorce from his former Pearl Harbor and Daredevil co-star was "a long time coming".
But in a somewhat shocking turn, he revealed staying together for the sake of their three children, Violet, Serafina and Samuel, eventually led him to spiral into alcoholism.
"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."
"It’s part of why I started drinking… because I was trapped."
In spite of being "trapped" in the marriage, Affleck maintained he and Garner still managed to end things amicably.
"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?"
"Yes, but fundamentally it was always underpinned with a respect."
The former Batman also confided to Stern that how his behavior seemed in the eyes of his children was what eventually led him to seek treatment for his alcohol addiction.
But in another shockingly candid moment, he disclosed that if he and Garner, who memorably helped him check into rehab in 2018, were still married, he would likely still be drinking heavily
If Affleck was hoping to move his fans by being open and honest about his struggles with substance abuse, the reaction his story has received on Twitter suggests that he was less than triumphant.
Indeed, Twitter users did not hold back on their shock and disgust that Affleck seemed to blame Garner for instigating his downward spiral.
A few Twitter users put out the reminder Affleck reportedly had an affair with his children's nanny.
Other's took an opportunity to sing the praises of Jennifer Garner, with some even suggesting getting out of her marriage to Affleck may have been the best thing that could possibly happen to her.
A few other twitter users took an opportunity to use this interview as a warning to Jennifer Lopez to reconsider re-kindling their often tumultuous romance.
When speaking about their split to Vanity Fair in 2016, Garner was open their marriage was far from perfect behind the scenes.
"I always say, ‘When his sun shines on you, you feel it.’ "
"But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it’s cold."
"He can cast quite a shadow."
Indeed, though in this case, shade seems a more appropriate term.
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