Ben Affleck Says He Felt ‘Trapped’ in Marriage to Jennifer Garner: That’s ‘Why I Started Drinking Alcohol’

Ben Affleck opened up about how he felt “trapped” in his marriage to Jennifer Garner in a rare interview on Tuesday, December 14, about their relationship, coparenting and his past drinking problem.

Ben, 49, said in an appearance on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show that had he and Jennifer, 49, not broken up in 2015, he believes they “would have ended up at each other’s throats” and that he “would probably still be drinking.”

“That was part of why I started drinking alcohol, I was trapped,” he added. “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.”

“The truth was, we took our time, we made a decision, we grew apart,” he said. “We had a marriage that did not work. This happens.”

He continued, “It is somebody I love and respect, but to whom I should not be married any longer.”

“And then we said, ‘You know what? We tried. We tried, because we had kids,'” Ben admitted, before adding that “both of us felt like, ‘We don’t want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage.'”

Ben and Jennifer, who share and coparent three children, daughters Violet and Seraphina and son Samuel, were married in 2005 before splitting up in 2015. Their divorce was later finalized in 2018.

Despite their split, Ben, who has since moved on in a rekindled romance with Jennifer Lopez, said in the interview that he and the Elektra actress handled the breakup “amicably.”

“Did we have moments of tension? Did we have disagreements over the custody? Was stuff difficult for us? Did we get angry? Yes,” he revealed.

“But fundamentally, it was always underpinned with respect,” he admitted of how the two exes interacted after their breakup. “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.'”

A rep for Jennifer did not immediately respond to In Touch‘s request for comment.

Recently, Ben and Jennifer seemingly had a serious talk outside of their kids’ school on Thursday, December 9, with Jennifer photographed pointing to something on a piece of paper, before engaging in a very somber chat near the curb.

However, when it comes to blending Ben and J. Lo’s families together, Jennifer “thinks her kids getting to know J. Lo, Emme and Max is a good thing,” a source previously revealed to In Touch.

“People come into your lives all the time, even if it’s your parents’ lives, and you can’t control it all,” the insider added. “That’s just life.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).