Paparazzi went to extreme and dangerous lengths to grab photos of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck‘s kids! And she’s still upset about it to this day!
During an appearance on Evan Ross Katz‘s Netflix podcast Shut Up Evan, the 54-year-old actress opened up about photographers’ “totally ludicrous” behavior toward her and her three children, Violet, Fin, and Samuel. Jennifer has long campaigned for anti-paparazzi laws, even testifying in 2013 to help pass a bill to protect celebrities’ kids from harassment by photographers in California, and that’s because she knows all too well how dangerous they can be. She said on the episode:
“It was a danger to everyone around us. If I went through a yellow light, 15 cars would go through the red behind me. They would drive up onto people’s lawns, even on a hillside.”
Related: Jennifer Garner GUSHES About ‘Incredible Co-Parent’ Ben Affleck Years
It got so bad that one of her kids had to stop playing soccer because photographers kept following them. Jennifer recalled:
“The [soccer] association asked us to stop [attending] because there were 20 cars coming [to practice]. It wasn’t just about us. It was an industry that had gotten out of control.”
The 13 Going On 30 star couldn’t even go to the pediatrician for her sick child because the paps blocked the door to the office! So awful! Jennifer continued:
“There’s something wrong with that, and the kids are paying the price. Kids were getting knocked over coming out of preschool by photographers who were so hungry to get to me or Ben, trying to get to our kids, that it was just like, ‘You gotta stop, you gotta watch for the little kids. You don’t belong at a school, you know?'”
Jennifer knows what people may think about her complaining about the paparazzi, that it’s like “poor little me, my poor little kids who have everything in the world.” The Alias alum acknowledges she and her family have a lot of privilege, and she is “grateful for all that has afforded us.” However, the paparazzi’s behavior got out of hand — or as she put it, it “just got silly.”
Her main issue is, understandably, how their actions affect her kids and others! And you can’t blame her for getting upset! Any parent would be too if they had people constantly hounding their family! Jennifer noted that she lived on the same street as “more famous and successful” people than her, but the paparazzi didn’t bother them as much as her. They would always focus on “the chick with the kids” instead:
“They wouldn’t follow Ben. They wouldn’t follow Matt Damon.”
All that being said, she also has an “interesting relationship” with the two photographers who have been assigned to her for over two decades, especially one in particular:
“I have a very interesting relationship with my main guy. We have an odd respect for each other. I don’t know, we’ve had some really real-life moments together. I was followed by someone who, for whatever reason, I thought was going to hurt me, and I ran to him because I knew him and trusted him, and I knew that he and I would be OK.”
How scary!
Jennifer feels “there’s some sort of Stockholm syndrome” involved here, adding:
“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?'”
It should go without saying, but it’s incredibly disrespectful and gross of the paps to follow celebrities’ young kids around. We sincerely believe that, and it’s why we don’t buy or publish photos of celebrity kids unless it’s from an official public event — like a red carpet where their parent has approved their participation and photography.
We’re glad Jennifer pushed back on their behavior for the safety of her kids and others. Watch the interview (below):
Jennifer Garner reveals the hard truths of living with the paparazzi
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