In a candid interview, the actress reveals public scrutiny wasn’t the true challenge, emphasizing the emotional toll of breaking up a family and finding peace through co-parenting.
Jennifer Garner is opening up about the profound personal impact of her divorce from Ben Affleck, shifting the focus away from Hollywood gossip to the real emotional cost of ending a marriage.
In a new interview, the 53-year-old actress reflected on her 2015 separation from Affleck—legally finalized in 2018—and dismissed the idea that intense public attention was the most difficult aspect. “You have to be smart about what you can and can’t handle, and I could not handle what was out there,” Garner told E! News. “But what was out there was not what was hard.”
She identified the core struggle as a deeply personal one: “The fact of it is what was hard. The actual breaking up of a family is what was hard. Losing a true partnership and friendship is what was hard.”
Garner revealed she actively shields herself and her three children with Affleck—Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 13—from media speculation. “It doesn’t serve me to take in gossip about myself or anyone else, much less my kids, so I don’t do it,” she stated.
Years after the split, the actress reports having reached a stable and respectful co-parenting relationship with Affleck. She described their current dynamic as being defined by “peace and equanimity.”
Now in a relationship with tech CEO John Miller since 2018, Garner expressed gratitude for her life today, calling her enduring career, her children’s health, and deep-rooted friendships “all a gift.”
She ended with a message of hope for others, highlighting the restorative power of time. “I think it’s important for women to know… that time is the opportunity,” Garner said. “Time is the opportunity to heal. Time is the opportunity to forgive, to move on and to find a new way to be friends.”
