It’s been four months since Ben Affleck’s divorce from Jennifer Lopez was finalized. They split after just two years of marriage that saw them be relentlessly followed by the paparazzi.
Now, Affleck is speaking out to reveal that he felt “a lot of empathy” for the singer Britney Spears. Indeed, she has been targeted by the paparazzi in a similar way for decades.
Affleck’s ‘Empathy’ With Spears
“Years and years ago, I really had a lot of empathy for Britney Spears,” Affleck, 52, said while appearing on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend podcast. “[She’s] not someone I knew or hung out with, but just like everybody else, you see all this s–t that comes through. But having had my own experiences, I knew these are people who are following her around at a time where she may or may not have been having difficulty.”
Affleck went on to describe the media scrutiny that Spears went through during the late aughts as “poking a stick” at someone until they become a “growling animal.” Sadly, some of Spears’ most infamous moments during her split from her ex-husband Kevin Federline were captured during that time. These moments include when she shaved her head.
This caused Affleck to feel bad for Spears, as he knows just how aggressive these paparazzi photographers can be.
“I’m usually with my kids trying to go somewhere and then there’s four guys going, ‘Hey, hey!’ And I’m like, ‘Hey, man. Can you give me some time? Do you mind?’” he said. “It’s this selective experience of taking a picture of somebody everytime they’re feeling irritated, they’re going to look irritated.”
Watch Affleck talk more about this in the video below.
Related: Ben Affleck Makes Surprising Comments About Jennifer Lopez Months After Their Divorce
Affleck Is A ‘Private’ Person
Though Affleck loves making movies, he sees himself as a “private” person.
“I don’t really like to do big social events or go out much,” he admitted. “I don’t want people looking at me, [and with] my family, my kids, my life—I wish that were more private. But I [also] really like making movies and telling those stories. The truth is, I always knew that that was kind of part of it.”
Affleck’s desire for privacy played a role in his split from Lopez, as she is known to love the attention that comes with fame.
“My temperament is to be a little bit more reserved and private than hers,” Affleck previously said of Lopez. “As happens in relationships, you don’t always have the same attitude towards these things.”
Related: Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck Finalize Divorce After Two Years Of Marriage – It’s Officially Over
Affleck And Lopez’s History
Affleck and Lopez met in December of 2001 on the set of their movie Gigli. They became engaged the next year, only to shock fans by calling off their planned wedding in 2003 just days before it was set to take place.
Affleck and Lopez each went on to marry and divorce different people. Affleck married the former Alias star Jennifer Garner in 2005 and had three children with her before they divorced in 2018. Meanwhile, Lopez married the singer Marc Anthony, staying with him from 2004 until they divorced in 2014. He’s the father of her twins.
Affleck and Lopez reunited in 2021, and they married in July of 2022. Lopez filed for divorce exactly two years later, and their divorce was finalized in January of this year. As for Spears, she also recently got divorced. After marrying the fitness trainer Sam Asghari in 2022, she divorced him last year.
Affleck, Lopez, and Spears are all believed to be single these days. It will certainly be interesting to see where their respective love lives take them from here!
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