Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner may not have been able to make their marriage work, but they are certainly nailing it when it comes to co-parenting. The two exes, who called it quits in 2015, were spotted being friendly together Thursday for the first time since Affleck revealed their divorce was his “biggest regret.”
Looking casual in black tops and jeans as they prepared to bring 7-year-old son Sam to a birthday party, the two actors seem comfortable together as they chat on the sidewalk in Los Angeles.
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This was the first time the former couple, who also share daughters Violet, 14, and Seraphina, 10, was spotted together since the Argo actor spoke candidly in an interview with The New York Times earlier this month about the end of his marriage, which was finalized in 2018.
“The biggest regret of my life is this divorce,” Affleck told the paper. “Shame is really toxic. There is no positive by-product of shame. It’s just stewing in a toxic, hideous feeling of low self-worth and self-loathing.”
Affleck, who has been open about his struggles with alcohol abuse and mental health over the years, admitted his drinking “created more marital problems” with Garner before their split. That being said, the actor is trying to move on, focusing on co-parenting healthily with the Alias actress rather than dwelling on their failed romantic relationship.
“It’s not particularly healthy for me to obsess over the failures — the relapses — and beat myself up,” he said. “I certainly have done things that I regret. But you’ve got to pick yourself up, learn from it, learn some more, try to move forward.”
Earlier this month, Affleck explained he never expected to split from Garner when they married a decade prior to their split in an interview with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America.
“I never thought that I was gonna get divorce. I didn’t want to get divorced. I didn’t want to be a divorced person. I really didn’t want to be a split family with my children,” he told Sawyer. “And it upset me because it meant I wasn’t who I thought I was. And that was so painful and so disappointing in myself.”
Photo credit: BG004/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty
