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Jennifer Garner Was Ben Affleck’s ‘Tower of Strength’: He Wishes He Could ‘Turn Back Time’
Too little, too late. Jennifer Garner was Ben Affleck‘s “tower of strength” before and “even after” their split in June 2015, a source exclusively tells In Touch. “When we hit rock bottom, she was always there for him no matter what,” the insider reveals. “If he could turn back time and change certain things, he would. … Ben’s had time to reflect on life since the split and regrets the way he treated Jen.”
In an interview published Tuesday, February 18, Ben, 47, admitted the divorce is his “biggest regret.” Though the couple already had issues they were confronting, he pointed to his alcohol addiction as one in particular that drove them apart.
“You’re trying to make yourself feel better with eating or drinking or sex or gambling or shopping or whatever. But that ends up making your life worse,” he explained, comparing his life to his character’s story in The Way Back. “Then you do more of it to make that discomfort go away. Then the real pain starts. … It becomes a vicious cycle you can’t break. That’s at least what happened to me.”
The Batman v Superman star is trying not to dwell, though. He believes it’s “not particularly healthy for [him] to obsess over the failures — the relapses — and beat [himself] up.” He is also trying to eschew shame from his life, calling it “toxic.” But his slip at a Halloween party in October 2019 led to tension with ex Jennifer, 47.
“Jen is furious with Ben,” a source told In Touch after the incident. “She hates that Ben did it in public too, mainly because of their children, who are at ages where they hear things in school from other kids.” Though the insider shared “Jen is still very supportive,” they admitted “there are consequences” to Ben’s backsliding. “Jen wants Ben at his best. Video of him stumbling around in public, that’s not it.”
With his ex-wife’s encouragement, however, the star is trying to “learn from” the mistakes he made during and after their divorce. “I have certainly done things that I regret,” he told the Times. “But you’ve got to pick yourself up … [and] try to move forward.”
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