Substance abuse problems.
Accusations of cheating.
Struggles with mental health.
Ben Affleck may be a bonafide movie star, but once you pull back the glitzy Hollywood
exterior, the truth about the two-time Oscar-winner is far more tragic.
Ben Affleck was born to intellectual parents and grew up in a rough working-class area
of Boston.
His mom, Chris Boldt, is a Harvard-educated teacher, while his father, Timothy Affleck,
holds communist beliefs and taught him about the importance of altruism.
Despite Timothy's strong sense of justice and egalitarianism, he had his demons.
Speaking with People in 2000, Ben described his dad as having "a severe, chronic problem
with alcoholism."
Indeed, he told Barbara Walters that his father spent all day drinking, which caused immense
strife for the youngster.
"He drank a lot.
My father was, what do they call him, a real alcoholic."
As the actor explained to The Wall Street Journal, his dad had potential, but lost it
all to drinking excessively.
Accordingly, Timothy hated the rich due to his own unfulfilled aspirations and instilled
this animosity into his son.
Eventually, his dad was able to get sober and became an addiction counselor, as the
actor told the Daily Mail.
As a young boy, Ben Affleck witnessed his parents' toxic relationship, which culminated
in their divorce when he was just 12.
When his parents called it quits, Affleck admitted to feeling glad at first, telling
Barbara Walters,
"To be honest with you, the marriage was so bad that I remember feeling relief."
The family struggled financially in the aftermath — Affleck's mom, a teacher, earned $28,000
annually, as the actor revealed to Entertainment Weekly.
Thereafter, he had to navigate life without his dad.
What pained Affleck the most as a child of divorced parents, as he revealed to Howard
Stern, was grappling with the notion that his dad may have hated him.
With the absence of a father figure to guide him from adolescence to adulthood, Affleck
felt helpless.
During an interview with Mosaic, Affleck said that while he conceded that the divorce was
the right decision, he nonetheless felt immense pain in the aftermath.
Ben Affleck's tragic family history sadly goes beyond his father's struggles with alcoholism.
When he was a boy, his grandmother died by suicide, as did his uncle.
Meanwhile, his aunt was addicted to heroin and most of his grandparents struggled with
alcoholism.
Additionally, his brother, fellow actor Casey Affleck, had also recovered from excessive
alcohol use, as he revealed on "WTF with Marc Maron."
During an appearance on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show, Ben explained that knowing about his
father's traumatic past has helped him understand why he behaved the way he did:
"Two years before he got married, his mother killed herself.
Then the next year, his brother killed himself.
His father beat him up his whole life.
He had an incredibly traumatic life.
How he even recovered from that to the degree he has is really remarkable."
As Ben Affleck revealed to Diane Sawyer, he struggled with addiction for decades.
After first getting sober in 2001, he began drinking casually again in 2003 before suffering
a relapse eight years later, drinking every day until he would pass out.
But the movie star admitted that he was in denial and couldn't accept that he had developed
an alcohol addiction.
His father, Timothy Affleck, told Grazia that he blamed the entertainment industry for his
son's addiction:
"Hollywood is a disgusting place.
I think that's been a major factor in Ben's drinking."
On numerous occasions, Affleck believed that his alcoholism had ruined his life and the
lives of those around him, only recovering when he reached self-actualization.
As the Oscar-winner put it, he had met his pain threshold and couldn't take anymore suffering.
Affleck told The New York Times that he was able to seek help and work toward his sobriety
thanks in part to the support of pals Bradley Cooper and Robert Downey Jr.
As Ben Affleck once told Matt Damon,
"I can sell magazines but I can't sell films."
In the 2000s, the once sought-after star found himself in a career slump, gaining notoriety
for his personal life as opposed to his acting work.
These struggles had a profound effect on Affleck, whose self-esteem was diminished by being
the target of a barrage of hate.
Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, he admitted to being hurt by the animosity he faced from
both the public and the media, seeking therapy as a result.
Affleck told the newspaper:
"I was really struggling.
People were just writing vicious, awful, hateful stuff about me all the time and it really
started to affect me."
The star conceded in an interview with Playboy that he simply became an easy target, someone,
quote, "people could kick around."
In the late 2000s, Ben Affleck and his family were targeted by a stalker.
For years, Steven Burky had reportedly been following Affleck and then-wife Jennifer Garner,
as well as harassing their young children.
In 2008, Garner obtained a restraining order against Burky and he was later arrested.
The ordeal was traumatic for Affleck, who revealed that he felt propelled to purchase
a number of guns in spite of his liberal political leanings.
Afleck told The Hollywood Reporter:
"The stalker had been to our house many times and ultimately came to my children's school
and was arrested.
It gave me a stronger sense of feeling protective about my family.
[...] It's an ugly world."
Affleck told Playboy that Burky had allegedly threatened to murder his family, having discovered
where his kids go to school by studying paparazzi snaps.
As Affleck divulged, the stalker eventually turned up at the preschool.
In 2010, a judge found that Burky was not guilty by reason of insanity, and he was remanded
in a psychiatric hospital.
He was also barred from interacting with the Affleck family for 10 years, should he ever
be released.
Ben Affleck struck up a friendship with Joe Kindregan after meeting him on the set of
Forces of Nature in 1998.
Kindregan was just 10 when he befriended Affleck, but the relationship had a long-lasting effect
on him.
The youngster lived with a neurological disease called ataxia telangiectasia, which is a degenerative
condition with no cure, causing susceptibility to cancer and other illnesses.
The actor and his then-wife, Jennifer Garner, campaigned and fundraised on Kindregan's behalf,
having raised $350,000 for the A-T Children's Project in 2007.
That year, Affleck also paid tribute to Kindregan when giving a graduation speech at his pal's
high school.
Meanwhile, Kindregan told People that Affleck was "the best friend you could ever have."
In 2013, Affleck celebrated Kindregan's 25th birthday and donated $25,000 to A-T Children's
Project.
Sadly, Joe Kindregan died two years later, aged just 27.
His obituary noted that Kindregan was able to bring his illness to greater awareness
via the famous pals he made.
Ben Affleck married Jennifer Garner in 2005.
Although they seemed like the perfect Hollywood super couple, their marriage was tumultuous.
After 10 years together, Affleck and Garner called it quits, divorcing two years later
in 2017.
During an appearance on Howard Stern's radio show in 2013, he claimed that the couple's
struggles exacerbated his excessive drinking and propelled him toward a relapse.
However, Affleck clarified his comments on Jimmy Kimmel Live! claiming that his words
were taken out of context in the condensed interview.
Repeating the patterns of divorce prevalent in his own family was incredibly difficult
for Affleck.
Affleck told Diane Sawyer:
"It upset me because it meant I wasn't who I thought I was.
And that was so painful."
There were also rumors of cheating, with the couple hit by "nannygate" when Affleck began
dating his children's nanny, Christine Ouzounian.
One month after splitting from Garner, Us Weekly reported that Affleck and Ouzounian
were getting loved up, though he denied any infidelity.
Still, Garner told Vanity Fair that she was hurt by the relationship:
"Bad judgment?
Yes.
It's not great for your kids for [a nanny] to disappear from their lives."
"I really don't want my children to pay for my sins."
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, multiple powerful men in Hollywood were accused of
sexual impropriety.
When Ben Affleck spoke out about Harvey Weinstein in 2017, a Twitter user reminded fans that
the actor apparently once groped Hilarie Burton's breast on-air when she was hosting Total Request
Live.
Regarding the incident, a clip of which began circulating online, Burton herself tweeted,
"I had to laugh back then so I wouldn't cry."
Affleck seemingly admitted to the indiscretion and tweeted a succinct apology.
However, during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he claimed that
he couldn't remember what happened and suggested he was just giving Burton a hug as opposed
to grabbing her breast.
Nevertheless, he said that he was certain Burton wasn't lying.
Shortly after Burton's claims in 2017, Annamarie Tendler, who was then married to Saturday
Night Live alum John Mulaney, alleged that Affleck groped her at a Golden Globes party
in 2014.
Then, Broad City writer Jen Statsky claimed that Affleck had groped multiple women at
the same party.
As of July 2022, Affleck has not publicly commented on these allegations.
Given his discordant childhood and subsequent career difficulties, Ben Affleck began struggling
with his mental health.
From a young age, the actor has suffered from depression and anxiety.
The actor told ABC's Diane Sawyer:
"I get depressed.
I take antidepressants.
They're very helpful for me, I've taken them from 26 years old, various different kinds."
He lamented that some of the medications he'd been prescribed in the past led to side effects
that caused further discomfort, such as weight gain.
Speaking with People in 2020, he argued that mental illness is still stigmatized and poorly
understood, in contrast to addictions.
Affleck told the outlet:
"I've experienced depression and anxiety.
The psychological issues are not as well understood as addiction is now.
[...] Mental health is more confusing and more elusive."
On reflection, Affleck has begun to understand what led to his inner turmoil.
As such, he told The Wall Street Journal that he regrets not having treated his younger
self with kindness and understanding.
Afleck told The Journal:
"I wish I had understood better the nature of what was difficult about life for me.
I wish I did not have to learn some lessons the hard way."
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