Ben Affleck Hurt By Backlash Following Jennifer Garner Comments: 'It's The Exact Opposite'

Ben Affleck broke his silence after receiving intense backlash following his remarks about his marriage to Jennifer Garner.

The "Batman" star, 49, appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Wednesday night and addressed the comments he made in a recent appearance on "The Howard Stern Show." In the interview, he talked about his previous marriage and divorce and mentioned that he would "probably still be drinking" if he stayed married to Garner, which raised some eyebrows.

In his defense, Affleck said his words were taken out of context and blamed "clickbait" for reporting verbatim quotes. He stressed that it was an "in-depth, two-hour interview," which he was really happy about. He was even thinking of doing "more honest, exploratory, self-evaluating" interviews like it. So, he was surprised when he saw the backlash on Twitter, Page Six reported. Even Garner and Affleck's pals reacted to the reports and slammed him for it.

Affleck stressed that during the interview, he also spoke about how much he and Garner respect and care about each other. He also mentioned how they prioritized their kids, however, the stories that made headlines were different.

"[They] had literally taken the conversation that I had had for two hours and made it seem as if I was saying the exact opposite of what I had said," Affleck explained.

"It said that I had blamed my ex-wife for my alcoholism, that I was trapped in this marriage — just made me out to be the worst, most insensitive, stupid, awful guy," Affleck said about the reports. "That’s not true. I don’t believe that — it’s the exact opposite of who I am, what I believe, and I would never want my kids to ever say a bad word about their mom."

"It hurts my feelings, man," Affleck added and called the criticisms "inappropriate."

Garner and Affleck share three children — Violet, 16, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9.

In his interview with Howard Stern, Affleck opened up about his struggles with drinking while he was still with Garner. He admitted that his drinking problems worsened during the difficult times in their marriage.

"I'd probably still be drinking. It's part of why I started drinking … because I was trapped," he said. "I was like 'I can't leave 'cause of my kids, but I'm not happy. What do I do?' What I did was drink a bottle of scotch and fall asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution."

Affleck and Garner tied the knot in 2005. They announced their split after being married for 10 years. Their divorce was finalized in 2018.

Affleck and Garner have already moved on from each other. The "Peppermint" actress is dating John Miller. Meanwhile, Affleck reignited his romance with Jennifer Lopez.