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If you thought being hounded by paparazzi was difficult for celebrities, imagine how much worse it could be when they have their children with them. In Jennifer Garner's experience, a media frenzy around her family caused "a danger to everyone around us," and it sounds so scary.
The 13 Going on 30 star, who shares kids Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 12, with ex-husband Ben Affleck, opened up about invasive photographers when her children were little in a July 21 interview on the Shut Up Evan podcast.
"It was totally ludicrous," Garner said about that time, adding, "It was a danger to everyone around us."
She said, "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." That would definitely be a danger to everyone else on the road! Not to mention, they couldn't even take their kids to soccer practice because so many people were joining them to try to sneak a picture. "So it wasn't just about us. It was an industry that had gotten out of control."
The Five-Star Weekend star added that paparazzi would go so far as to block the door of her child's pediatrician, so she couldn't even get inside. "There's something wrong with that, and the kids are paying the price," Garner said. She added, "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?'"
Garner, who recognized her privilege of being famous, went on to say how frustrating it was to see the photographers trying to snap photos of the kids and interfering in their daily lives this much. Especially because kids don't ask to be famous, but they still have to deal with all the downsides of their parents' fame.
Fans agreed, writing on X, "Being famous shouldn't mean giving up your right to privacy or feeling safe in your own home." Another wrote, "Heartbreaking to hear. No one signs up for their kids getting knocked over or chased just for existing."
Others argued that paparazzi are partially responsible for her fame, like this person who said, "Although I do feel anything with kids and personal property should be off limits if it wasn't for those paparazzi and them catching a lot of these infamous moments celebs would be nobodies."
Affleck has also spoken out against paparazzi in the past. In an April 2025 appearance on This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, the Argo star opened up about how paparazzi are just hunting for a celebrity to have a breakdown. "The idea is, like, follow somebody around, antagonize them, and then hopefully they'll have like a nervous breakdown and go crazy on you, and then your video will be worth more money," Affleck explained. He added that he's experienced "the cycle of having people harangue you and yell at you and hassle you and follow you."
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