Jennifer Garner *Finally* Explains Whether the Nanny Caused Her Divorce from Ben Affleck
The actress opens up about her split in the pages of Vanity Fair (as well as her ex's back tattoo).
If you think you know everything about the Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck split, you'd better think again. After announcing their divorce last June, the actress is now getting candid about her breakup from the Batman star inside the pages of Vanity Fair. And, yes, she's clearing the air about the rumors regarding Ben's alleged affair with their nanny (which his team has denied).
“Let me just tell you something,” she says of the scandal that's been dubbed "nannygate" by the press. "We had been separated for months before I ever heard about the nanny. She had nothing to do with our decision to divorce. She was not a part of the equation. Bad judgment? Yes. It’s not great for your kids for [a nanny] to disappear from their lives."
Following the split, Jennifer has been growing even closer to her daughter, Violet, who is often by her mom's side at home. “I’m happy to have her; she’s happy to have me,” she says. She's also thankful for two other women in her life: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. “When I can’t sleep—and I am not someone who typically has that problem, but I really have in the last year—and I need something to switch my brain off, it has been Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. God bless those girls. I used to think I would never watch television on my phone, but there I am, because I am sleeping next to my daughter," she explains.
After nearly a year to reflect on her union with Ben, she notes that there wasn't anything fake about their relationship. "It was a real marriage. It wasn’t for the cameras. And it was a huge priority for me to stay in it," she says. "And that did not work.”
In the lengthy chat, Jennifer adds that she feels no ill will towards her ex, however she doesn't feel the same way about the very large back tattoo Ben got last December. The ink features a phoenix rises from the ashes. “You know what we would say in my hometown about that? ‘Bless his heart.’ A phoenix rising from the ashes. Am I the ashes in this scenario?” she says. “I take umbrage. I refuse to be the ashes.”
After seeing it, we don't blame her.
