- Ben Affleck said his marriage to Jennifer Garner partly led to drinking too much alcohol.
- During an appearance on “The Howard Stern Show,” Affleck said he felt “trapped” in his marriage.
- “I can’t leave because of my kids, but I’m not happy … what do I do?” he recalled.
Ben Affleck said that “part of why” he started drinking alcohol was because he felt “trapped” in his marriage to Jennifer Garner.
While promoting his film “The Tender Bar,” Affleck made a virtual appearance on the “The Howard Stern Show.” Speaking about his ex-wife, Affleck said: “We grew apart. We had a marriage that didn’t work. This happens.”
Affleck went on to say they tried to make it work because they had kids.
“And you know what, we probably would’ve ended up at each others throats,” he said. “I’d probably still be drinking – which is part of why I started drinking alcohol – because I was trapped.”
He continued: “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.”
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
As previously reported by Insider, Affleck has been open in the past about his experience with alcohol addiction after checking into rehab for the first time in 2001. Last year, Affleck told The New York Times that he started drinking more during marital problems with Garner.
Affleck and Garner began dating in 2004, got married in 2005, and separated in 2015 before finalizing their divorce in 2018.
Garner reportedly encouraged Affleck to seek help before his 40-day stint in rehab in 2018.
Affleck told Stern that ultimately, him and Garner ended the marriage “amicably.”
“Did we have moments of tension?” he said. “Did we have disagreements over the custody? Was stuff difficult for us? Did we get angry? Yes.”
He continued: “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.'”
The pair share three children: Violet, 15, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9.
“The Tender Bar” is in select theaters starting December 17 and on Amazon Prime starting January 6, 2022.