Jennifer Garner isn’t going to let her ex-husband Ben Affleck‘s recent interview, where he said he felt “trapped” in their marriage, bring her down. Sources close to the 49-year-old actress revealed to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that she’s “taking it with a grain of salt,” and it isn’t going to damage their co-parenting relationship.
Ben, 49, opened up about their marriage and divorce during a Tuesday December 14 interview with Howard Stern. He admitted that part of what led to his issues with alcohol included feeling conflicted about ending their marriage, as they share three children, Violet, 16, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9. “Part of why I started drinking was because I was trapped,” he said in the interview. “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.”
A source close to the Alias actress shared that she was “unbothered” by the interview. “She knows him probably better than almost anybody and she knows what he was talking about,” the source told HollywoodLife. “She is completely confident in herself and is taking it with a grain of salt.”
Ultimately, the couple’s three kids are the most important to Jennifer, and the exes work well as co-parents. “Jen knows her relationship with Ben as a co-parent is solid on all grounds. They have a healthy relationship focused on their kids, not on the past,” the source said.
Another source reiterated that Jennifer doesn’t have any ill-will towards the Gone Girl star, and their kids are their prime focus. They also mentioned that Ben’s sobriety is also important to his ex. “Jen has heard the interview and she is OK with what he said and appreciates the man that he has become now being sober,” the source said. “And she isn’t worrying about him being so real. She knows where he is coming from and it is all good. They have worked through all of their previous struggles and are now in a great co-parenting relationship. Things are more than OK.”
After the coverage came in about Ben’s long-form interview, the actor explained how things had been taken out of context during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! He explained that the conversation had focused on how well they work. “[We talked about] how I work with my ex-wife and how I’m so proud that we work together for our kids the best that we can for them,” he said, before mentioning that some outlets had focused in on part of his conversation with the radio host. “They had literally taken the conversation that I had for two hours and made it seem like I was saying the exact opposite of what I said,” he said.