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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Ellie Muir

Jennifer Garner says she ‘works really hard’ to avoid seeing stories about ex-husband Ben Affleck in the press

Getty Images

Jennifer Garner has admitted that she tries her best not to read any media coverage about her ex-husband Ben Affleck.

The pair, who were married from 2005 until 2018, have stayed friends as they co-parent their three children. But the 13 Going On 30 star, 50, prefers not to keep up her husband’s life online.

“I really work hard not to see either of us in the press,” Garner told Australian publication Stellar Magazine.

“It doesn’t make me feel good, even if it’s something nice about one of us.”

“I just try to forget that I’m out there in any way, and the same with anyone I love. I don’t need to see anyone in my family made into a meme,” the actor added.

Photographs of Affleck have been used in popular internet memes in recent months, including pictures of the Gone Girl actor at the Grammy Awards in February.

Asked if she has seen any of the memes of her ex online, Garner said she has not, but joked: “Although I’m sure he’s quite meme-worthy, yes!”

Garner and Affleck share children Violet, 17, Seraphina, 14 and Samuel, 11, together. Garner has been in a relationship with her boyfriend John Miller after her divorce from Affleck in 2018.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner split in 2018 (Getty)

Affleck married singer and Shotgun Wedding actor Jennifer Lopez, 53, last year.

Garner and Affleck’s relationship was put under the spotlight after the Argo actor appeared to partially blame his struggles with alcoholism on his marriage to Garner.

The Air star sparked criticism in December 2021 when he told Howard Stern in an interview that he’d felt “trapped” during his marriage to Garner, and that it was “part of why” he’d started drinking alcohol.

“Part of why I started drinking alcohol was because I felt trapped,” he told Stern of his marriage.

Affleck has since reflected on the backlash he faced over the comments, which he described as a “really painful experience,” and he suggested that the revelations were taken out of context, and were “actually the opposite of what [he] meant”.

“To be clear, my behaviour is my responsibility entirely. The point that I was trying to make was a sad one,” Affleck explained. “Anyone who’s been through divorce makes that calculus of, how much do we try? We loved each other. We care about each other. We have respect for each other.”

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