Jennifer Garner is opening up about the impact of being constantly followed by paparazzi, specifically how it has affected her three children. Garner and her ex-husband, actor Ben Affleck, share three children together, and unfortunately, because of their parents’ celebrity status, they have been subject to the harassment as well.
While talking with PBS’ Tell Me More With Kelly Corrigan, Garner admitted that constantly being followed by cameras everywhere they went took its took on her children, Violet Affleck, Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck, and Samuel Garner Affleck.
Jennifer Garner Details How Being Constantly Followed by Paparazzi Impacted Her Children
“For 10 years, there were at the very least six cars and often 20 outside of our house, and outside of school, and at the pediatrician’s. And you’re begging them, ‘Please step aside from the pediatrician’s door. I have a sick kid. Please,'” Garner explained.
Garner admitted that while she understands paparazzi comes with the territory of being in the business, she also called it “so crazy” because “who cares?” “Who cares about some dumb celebrity problem?” Garner laments. “Unless it’s your child going through it, it’s not worth anyone’s attention or bother. It’s a cost of doing business but it just got to be ridiculous.”
At times, it got so intense that as Garner would drive around, the paparazzi would cause accidents. “I’d go through a yellow light and there would be 15 cars that would go through the red light without compunction.”
In 2013, Garner worked with Halle Berry and several other celebrities who have children, to criminalize such behavior. The bill would also criminalize taking photographs of children without their legal guardian’s permission.
And at just five years old, one of Garner’s daughter became an advocate for the bill as well. While speaking with law enforcement alongside her mom, she told the authorities about “what it’s like to be a little kid and to have all these huge cameras running toward you, running toward your mom, running after you when you go to school and having other kids scared of it.”
To the little 5-year-old, she admitted that the cameras “looked like guns” to her, adding that she was “scared of them.” That same year, Governor Jerry Brown did sign the bill into law. It was a move that “did make a huge difference,” Garner told Corrigan.
Garner told Corrigan that she “loathes” the paparazzi so much, but because some of them had been following her for at least 15 years, she has been forced into more of a personal relationship with them. “One of them said to me one day, ‘You don’t know how much we love watching you with your children. You don’t know how much we respect you.'”
RELATED: Jennifer Garner Laughs Off Comments Asking Her If She’s Pregnant: ‘I’m 48… I Will Never Be Pregnant’
And as the mom of three admits, “They do know me better than anyone knows me. They go everywhere I go. They’ve seen me strap kids into cars, they’ve seen me pregnant, they’ve seen me at the store.” Nonetheless, the relationship between them will never be easy.
Mamas Uncut is THE online place for moms. We cover the latest about motherhood, parenting, and entertainment as well – all with a mom-focused twist. So if you're looking for parenting advice from real parents, we have plenty of it, all for moms from moms, and also experts. Because, at the end of the day, our mission is focused solely on empowering moms and moms-to-be with the knowledge and answers they’re looking for in one safe space.