Ben Affleck says he was ‘trapped’ in marriage to Jennifer Garner, drank to escape; fans are not buying it

Ben Affleck is currently dating Jennifer Lopez. Photo: AFP

Ben Affleck recently said his marriage to Jennifer Garner drove him to drink. But Twitter remembers when she drove him to rehab.

Fans are showing their love for Garner on social media after Affleck partially blamed their marriage for his drinking habits. While appearing Tuesday (Dec 14) on The Howard Stern Show, the Tender Bar actor said he would “probably still” be drinking if he had stayed married to Garner.

Affleck and Garner split in 2015 after 10 years of marriage and share three children.

“It’s part of why I started drinking... because I was trapped,” Affleck told Stern, according to Yahoo News.

“I was like, ‘I can’t leave ‘cause of my kids, but I’m not happy. What do I do?’ What I did was drink a bottle of scotch and fall asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution.”

Shortly after the episode aired, a number of Twitter users blasted Affleck for seemingly “shifting blame” and “throwing Jennifer Garner under the bus even though she was there for him in his lowest moments.”

Many pointed out that Garner, 49, was photographed driving Affleck, 49, to a rehabilitation center in 2018 – three years after they announced plans to divorce.

“When you can’t accept that your drinking problem is because of you, you still have a drinking problem,” tweeted @Boeing74. “Jennifer Garner didn’t drive Ben Affleck to drink, she did however drive him to rehab probably saving his life.”

“Which step in AA is blame your ex-wife?” tweeted @heyprofbow. “He’s trash.”

Fans are defending actress Jennifer Garner, who they say stood by Ben Affleck through the rough times. Photo: AFP

While several were of the opinion that Affleck “never deserved” to be with a “saint” like Garner, others were more sympathetic to the Last Duel star.

“Ben Affleck was drinking because he was unhappy,” tweeted @iWriterGirl. “That’s not a dig at Jennifer Garner, it’s his truth. He was in an unhappy marriage. I have a lot of respect for him addressing his alcoholism and speaking openly about it.”

Reps for Affleck and Garner did not immediately respond to the Los Angeles Times’ requests for comment.

In conversation with Stern, the Oscar winner added that he still has “love and respect” for Garner, despite having a “marriage that didn’t work.” Affleck is dating former flame Jennifer Lopez.

“The truth was, we took our time, we made the decision.... We grew apart,” Affleck said. “We tried because we had kids. Both of us felt like, we don’t want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage.”

In 2016, Garner opened up about her past relationship with Affleck, telling Vanity Fair, “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.”

When asked about Garner’s remarks at the time, Affleck said, “It’s fine. She’s allowed to talk about it.” – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service