Jennifer Lopez Speaks out After Ben Affleck Gets Backlash for Jennifer Garner Comments

Jennifer Lopez is shutting down reports she’s upset with boyfriend Ben Affleck after the actor’s controversial comments about his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner. The “Let’s Get Loud” singer told PEOPLE Saturday that reports circulating that she was upset at Affleck’s comments were “simply not true,” adding to the outlet, “It is not how I feel.”

She added of Affleck, with whom she reunited earlier this year after a failed engagement in the early 2000s, “I couldn’t have more respect for Ben as a father, a co-parent, and a person.” Following his split from Lopez in 2004, Affleck would go on to marry Garner in 2005, and the two would go on to welcome children Violet, 16, Seraphina, 12, and son Samuel, 9, before their 2015 split and 2018 divorce was finalized.

The Tender Bar star stirred up controversy last week on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, opening up about his problems with substance abuse as they related to his marriage to the Alias actress and admitting he felt “trapped” in that relationship. “I was trapped. You know, I was like, I can’t leave because of my kids, but I’m not happy. What do I do? And what I did was like, drink a bottle of Scotch and fall asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution,” Affleck explained.

The sentiment was met with widespread backlash from people who thought Affleck was being disrespectful of Garner, so Affleck attempted to clarify his sentiments on Wednesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. “I had gone on about how much we respected each other and how we cared about each other and cared about our kids and put them first,” he said of the majority of the interview. “And went through our stuff. And they said that I had blamed by ex-wife for my alcoholism and that I was trapped in this marriage and just made me out to be the worst, most insensitive, stupid, awful guy.”

“That’s not true. I don’t believe that. It’s the exact opposite of who I am,” he continued of what was being said about him on social media, noting that he wanted to draw a line when it came to talk about his family. “What I believe and I would never want my kids to think that I would ever say a bad word about their mom.”