Ben Affleck retracts “sad” comment he would have kept drinking if he stayed with Jennifer Garner 2023

Ben Affleck has recanted his “sad” assertion that he would have continued drinking had he remained married to Jennifer Garner.

The ‘Gone Girl’ actor, who said in 2017 that he had entered rehab for alcohol addiction treatment, adding that he was solely responsible for his drinking while recalling his controversial 2021 interview with Howard Stern, in which he appeared to partially blame actress Jennifer, 50, for his drinking.

He told The Hollywood Reporter, “To be clear, I am solely responsible for my behavior.”

“The point I was attempting to convey to Howard was a tragic one.

“Everyone who has gone through a divorce calculates, ‘How hard should we try?’ We cherished one another. We care for one another. We have mutual regard for one another.

“I was trying to explain, ‘Hey, look, I was drinking too much, and the less happy you get, whether it’s your work or your marriage, it’s simply that as your life becomes more difficult, if you’re doing unhealthy things to fill a void, you’ll do more of them.'” I believe I was rather eloquent in my explanation.”

Ben was criticized by critics after he told Howard that “part” of the reason he began drinking was because he felt “stuck” in his marriage to Jennifer, who starred in “Pearl Harbor” from 2005 to 2018.

The former couple, who have three children, Violet, 17, Seraphina, 14, and Samuel, 11, originally announced their separation in 2015.

Ben told THR that he now views interviews as “land mines” in which “your career might end with one false word.”

In addition, he termed the controversy surrounding his remarks to shock jock Howard, 69, a “traumatic experience” because he was “very vulnerable” at the time and “the entire reception” of his remarks “was not only incorrect, it was the exact reverse of what I intended.”

Ben said that his 53-year-old wife Jennifer Lopez has pushed him to “relax,” be himself, and “have fun,” stating, “In many ways, she’s absolutely correct. She also loves me. She watches out for me. She is attempting to aid me. Thus, perhaps I should f****** listen to her.”