Highlights
- Jennifer Garner says paparazzi “knocked over” kids chasing photos of her and Ben Affleck.
- She recalls photographers blocking pediatrician visits and disrupting her kid’s soccer games.
- Garner reveals two photographers have followed her for over 20 years.
Jennifer Garner is opening up about just how out of control her paparazzi problem got while she and Ben Affleck were raising their young family in the spotlight.
The actress, 54, got candid about the chaos on the Shut Up Evan podcast, telling host Evan Ross Katz that photographers chasing her and Affleck put children in actual physical danger — including her own.
“If I went through a yellow light, 15 cars would go through the red behind me,” Garner said. “They would drive up onto people’s lawns, even on a hillside.”
The situation got so bad, Garner said, that it disrupted everyday family life, including her kids’ extracurricular activities.
“We were trying to have our little one play soccer, and the association asked us to stop because there were 20 cars coming,” she said. “It wasn’t just about us. It was an industry that had gotten out of control.”
Garner said routine errands became stressful ordeals, describing one particularly harrowing scenario involving a doctor’s visit.
“If you show up and you’re trying to get into the pediatrician and you have a sick kid on your shoulder and you’re scared and you can’t get into the door because you’re blocked by photographers, there’s something wrong with that,” she said. “The kids are paying the price.”
The “Alias” star didn’t stop there, recalling a disturbing scene outside her children’s preschool involving photographers desperate to snap her and Affleck.
“I saw kids getting knocked over coming out of preschool by photographers who were so hungry to get at me or Ben,” Garner said.
She noted that despite living on a street packed with famous faces, the paparazzi zeroed in on her family specifically because of her children.
“I had the kids,” Garner said, explaining why she and Affleck became prime targets over their famous neighbors.
Garner and Affleck, who share Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 13, were married for 10 years before splitting in 2015. The actress previously teamed up with Halle Berry in 2013 to testify before the California State Assembly Committee on Public Safety, pushing for legislation to protect celebrity children from aggressive photographers. The bill ultimately passed.
Asked by Katz whether the paparazzi presence has eased over the years, Garner revealed that two photographers have tailed her for more than two decades, resulting in an unusual dynamic.
“There’s kind of a Stockholm syndrome thing,” she said. “And at the same time, I’ve called the cops on him a million times and been like, ‘Can you please just give me a walk around the block with my kids and my dog?'”
Garner’s comments arrive as she makes press rounds for her new series, The Five Star Weekend.
Jennifer Garner says paparazzi “knocked over” kids chasing photos of her and Ben Affleck.
She recalls photographers blocking pediatrician visits and disrupting her kid’s soccer games.
Garner reveals two photographers have followed her for over 20 years.
Jennifer Garner reveals the hard truths of living with the paparazzi
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