Jennifer Garner makes rare comments about the danger her three children with Ben Affleck faced constantly when they were younger

“It was totally ludicrous,” the actress said in a new interview.

The Gist

• In a July 21 interview on the “Shut Up Evan” podcast, Jennifer Garner opened up about the “danger” the three children she shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck faced when they were younger.
• Aggressive photographers would follow the children, who “were getting knocked over coming out of preschool,” the actress said.
• “There’s something wrong with that,” she added. “And the kids are paying the price.”

Jennifer Garner is opening up in rare comments about being hounded by the paparazzi—specifically when her children were with her.

Garner is a mother of three and shares her children with ex-husband Ben Affleck, whom she was married to from 2005 to 2018. During a July 21 appearance on the “Shut Up Evan” podcast (and per The Hollywood Reporter), Garner spoke about joining forces with fellow actress Halle Berry in 2013 and advocating for new California laws to protect children from photographers. Before that law was passed, “it was totally ludicrous,” Garner said. “And it felt like, ‘Poor little me, my poor little kids who have everything in the world,’ but it was a danger to everyone around us.”

“If I went through a yellow light, 15 cars would go through the red behind me,” she continued. “They would drive up into people’s lawns, even on a hillside. We were trying to have our little one play soccer, and the association asked us to stop because there were 20 cars coming” to watch the games.

Garner elaborated that “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. 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 to Ben, trying to get to our kids.”

“It just got silly,” she added, noting that, while she lived on a street with people “more famous” than her, “they followed me because I had the kids. They wouldn’t follow Ben. They wouldn’t follow Matt Damon.”

“It wasn’t just about us—it was just an industry that had gotten out of control,” the actress continued.

Garner also explained the ongoing relationship she has with photographers that follow her every day and have “been assigned to me for 20-plus years, 25 years.” Speaking about one particular photographer, Garner said they have “a very interesting relationship” and “an odd respect for each other.”

“We’ve had some really real life moments together,” Garner said. “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 okay.”

“There’s kind of a Stockholm syndrome thing, 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?’” The Five Star Weekend star said.

Though Garner and Affleck finalized their divorce nearly a decade ago, she recently praised him in an Entertainment Weekly cover interview, calling him “this incredible co-parent.”

“He’s wonderful,” she added of her ex-husband. “He takes care of them. He’s a great partner in that way. And that’s very freeing.”

Last November, a source told People that Garner and Affleck “get along and really support each other.”

“Jen’s his biggest cheerleader,” the insider said. “It took them years to get to this point, but Jen never gave up on him. And it’s all friendly and centered around the kids now.”

Read the original article on InStyle