People Are Big Mad At Ben Affleck For Blaming Marriage To Jennifer Garner For His Alcoholism

• Ben Affleck was married to Jennifer Garner from 2005 to 2018 and he suffered through alcoholism for much of it.
• Affleck angered many this week when he told Howard Stern, “I probably still would’ve been drinking” if he’d stayed married to Garner.
• Read more news about Ben Affleck here.

Back in 2017, Ben Affleck publicly admitted that he had undergone rehab for a years-long addiction to alcohol. Despite having announced their separation in June of 2015 and jointly filing for divorce in April 2017, his estranged wife Jennifer Garner stuck by his side and supported him through the entire process.

By his own admission back then, Garner “supported me and cared for our kids as I’ve done the work.”

In 2018, returned to a rehab facility after Garner held an intervention at his home after she reportedly saw a photo of Affleck accepting a delivery of beer and liquor.

In 2019, Affleck was filmed stumbling around on a Los Angeles street and admitted the next day that he had suffered “a slip” in his sobriety as he was filmed entering Garner’s home.

Through it all, Jennifer Garner has been a saint as far as trying to get and keep Affleck on track numerous times when it comes to his shaky sobriety.

So when he appeared to blame being married to Garner (which ended unofficially in 2015 – four years before his last “slip”) for his alcoholism this week on The Howard Stern Show, people were not only not sympathetic, they reacted downright angrily.

“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,” Affleck told Stern on Tuesday. “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.”

Affleck added, “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. I knew she was a good mom, and I hoped she knew I was a good dad. I had to get sober, and I acknowledge that.”

He also claimed that “when I felt as if it impacted [his kids], I recognized it. Since that day, I swear to Christ, I have not wanted to drink once. I am not cured. I am not a preacher, but there is a happy ending if you can get there.”

While Affleck did say some nice things about Garner, many people didn’t appreciate how he also seemed to blame her.