Ben Affleck has issued a statement on Instagram in which he’s revealed that he’s completed 40 days of inpatient rehab (with breaks to go home during the day, which of course is not in there). He is now continuing outpatient treatment. He was just spotted with Shauna Sexton earlier this week, so I doubt he’s going to follow recommendations not to get into a new relationship early in sobriety. (Everyone has their own journey.) Hopefully this time it will stick for him and he sounds resigned to it in his statement at least. That’s below and here is the text in case you can’t read the image.
This week I completed a forty day stay at a treatment center for alcohol addiction and remain in outpatient care.
The support I have received from my family, colleagues and fans means more to me than I can say. It’s given me the strength and support to speak about my illness with others.
Battling any addiction is a lifelong and difficult struggle. Because of that, one is never really in or out of treatment. It is a full-time commitment. I am fighting for myself and my family. So many people have reached out on social media and spoken about their own journeys with addiction. To those people, I want to say thank you. Your strength is inspiring and is supporting me in ways I didn’t think was possible. It helps to know I am not alone. As I’ve had to remind myself, if you have a problem, getting help is a sign of courage, not weakness or failure.
With acceptance and humility, I continue to avail myself with the help of so many people and I am grateful to all those who are there for me. I hope down the road I can offer an example to others who are struggling.
I’ve been thinking of Demi Lovato and how she has done 60 days inpatient treatment, how we haven’t seen her, and how she intends to stay in for another month. I know it’s not a competition and that Demi has her own battle. Before her relapse she talked about sobriety like it was precious to her. We never heard that from Ben and yet he was in rehab before. How much sober time did Ben have before, when he first went to rehab at 29? That’s right when I first got sober too, in the early 2000s. I had two years sober and thought I could handle it again. Sometimes I wonder how my life would have turned out if I didn’t spend over a decade drinking again after I knew I had a problem with it. You know what Ben didn’t write in this statement? “I’m an alcoholic.” There’s something detached about the way this is worded, but it could just be his writing style and the fact that he is guarded with the public. It may have even been written by committee. Again, we all have our own journey and I hope he is committed to sobriety.
Update: I forgot to mention that Jennifer Garner has filed documents to speed up the divorce, which has been happening since April of last year. (Thanks Mia4s!) It’s complicated, but the gist is that it should be happening soon-ish.
Photos credit: Backgrid
Nice statement Ben’s publicist! (If he really wrote that I’ll eat my hat).
And while I understand Garner speeding up the divorce now, I also think the Playboy bunny young enough to be his daughter was added motivation.
So many comments on that instagram mention Batman. Oof. Time and a place people.
I am so burnt out. I forgot to mention that about the divorce. I’ll update thanks for mentioning it casually and not being like “you forgot,” appreciate that.
Oh no worries. It was more stream of consciousness: With these two I feel I need to get all my thoughts out at once to be ready for the next round of drama. 😉
These are not fun gossip days but at least these two are consistent.
I thinks it’s the bunny and the fact that she probably privately going to go after full custody with supervised visitation for him.
I hope it works for him and he takes it seriously.
He’s one of those guys that looks physically uncomfortable when he works out and bulks up.
Yes and yes. I have a hard time understanding when people work out to the point where their body shape is unsustainable. I feel like the general goal should be to attain the best, healthiest version of your natural shape, not try to force it to be something it just isn’t. I know actors do this for roles and maybe athletes do it for performance but otherwise it doesn’t seem like a great practice.
And that t-shirt is deliberately fitted to show his shape, too, I noticed.
Can you really call it in patient rehab when you spend so much of your time out and about, and not in rehab?
As someone who has *many* family and loved ones in various stages of addiction and recovery, this is the most bloodless, impersonal way I have ever heard anyone talk about their nascent sobriety. Ben doesn’t owe anyone (publicly , anyway) a window into his soul during this journey but this is a PR statement pure and simple. Humility and acceptance? Not yet. I’m sorry for his kids, his family, the friends and colleagues he’s hurt along the way and will probably continue to hurt because this process only works with honesty and true readiness and right now Ben has neither.
I’ve known many addicts recovering and not and I think this sounds like his publicist, not him. With his leaving the facility every damn day, I also wonder about his odds of staying on track (if he is even on track now). My dad was an alcoholic and sadly I know the game well.
Is that statement part of the recovery – like I think AA has you apologize to people? I once received a call from an old babysitter out of the blue, and it really felt like she was going through a list contacting people. But she didn’t apologize for anything!
I think it is really saying something when his brother, Casey seemed to give a more honest comment about Ben, himself, & their family history with alcoholism. Casey even admitted Ben was an ADDICT & an alcoholic. Ben has only admitted alcohol addictuon.
He has already broken 1 of the rules of rehab…don’t date. Hopefully, he is not drinking & is going to meetings. He is too fresh out of rehab to be breaking ANY of these rules!
Congrats on your sobriety, CB! I know first-hand about that little voice that says “You got this. It’ll be different this time,” I can’t speak for everyone, obviously. But the only thing that was different for me the 2nd time around was that it was worse. I fell harder, and a LOT faster…. Point is, you’re a rockstar!
He really thinks that 40 days at a spa–during which he spent most of his time roaming around town and hanging out with his gf at home–is something to brag about? He’s been in and out of treatment for the last three years. He’s such a narcissist. Always has to have attention for the smallest things. Plus, I don’t think he’s fully sober. He certainly doesn’t look like it.
I’m sure we all remember that these two were just (publicly) warned by the courts that their divorce was going to be dismissed if they didn’t start submitting documents. So IMO Jen doesn’t want the divorce to go private to speed it along — she wants it out of the court system so she can drag it out to her heart’s desire. I’ll believe that the divorce is final when I actually see it.
If you actually believe that Jen wants to speed up the divorce and get it finalized, I have some oceanfront property in Iowa that I will sell to you for an excellent price.
I read somewhere that the divorce was completed.
In early August it was in the news that their divorce would be dismissed if they didn’t tend to it. Then TMZ tried to claim that they had settled their divorce right before Ben went to “rehab” two weeks later. Now suddenly Jen wants it out of the court system entirely. I think the writing is on the wall. Mark my words, this time next year they still will not be divorced. She has major codependency issues that are apparently going untreated and she probably is afraid to experience life outside of babying Ben and his many problems.
Nah. I think she wants it out of the courts because she is going to officially go for full custody with supervised visitation. I hope she finalizes by YE.
I know that he is a tool but I hope this works for him. Everyone deserves a chance at recovery.
I have a soft spot for him since I literally ran into him at a hotel in Vancouver and he was so nice, polite, took pictures and talked to me and my friend for about a half hour. This was way back in the day, I dunno if he had even dated Jennifer Lopez by then or not. Anyway, he’s got so many issues that he needs to work through, I hope for his sake, he is able to.
I’ll take jack in the box for $200 Alex.
I say she’s done with him as a husband.
I really really hope his sobriety sticks. No judgment on his process. It’s an awful thing to battle and so many lose so to continue to try is commendable.
I read that Demi suffered a stroke during her overdose that caused muscle damage in her face so that may be why she is keeping a super-low profile in treatment right now and I completely understand that. If the stroke rumor is true then she definitely has a long recovery ahead of her. I wish her and Ben the best.
“Getting sober is not a competition, but let me judge and compare him to others and be passive aggressive about his treatment choices anyway.” Ben Affleck is a gigantic asshole and there are so many things he deserves to be dragged and mocked for, but your posts about his addiction and rehab are pretty low and gross.
Completely disagree. This is a gossip website – all is fair game to me. I appreciate the examples and comparisons / assessments of whether this will “stick” for him.
How are the posts about his addiction and rehab are pretty low and gross?
When all that they are doing is stating facts. Ben has been publicly treating rehab like a joke, he’s the one that has his PR team keep running to the media to make statements. and has been parading around drunk with his young girlfriend.
Fact is he not sober nor is he taking rehab seriously.
Someone like Demi Lovato’s addiction and treatment has been treated differently on this site because she’s not catering to the media neither she having her PR team. Demi went away and is getting the treatment she needs.
always with the iced coffee. HYDRATE! I hope Jen is so done with him. He never thanks her even when he has the opportunity. Instead he refers to her as “my co-parent” or not at all. I think he has a lot of contempt for her.
Why should he think about her and what’s wrong with him calling her my co-parent?
The only thing that matters is his kids.
The comments on another site re: this divorce story were hilarious. No one believes that Jen really wants to finalize anything. She overplayed this hand.
I think he doesn’t call himself an alcoholic because he has way more problems than alcohol. He’s an addict. He’s probably addicted to “certain” substances. Pretty sure he’s a gambling addict. Definitely addicted to nicotine. Might even be a sex addict. The guy has major, major issues, not just alcohol.
This. He seems to be one giant addictive personality walking around.
I think she wants to finalize the divorce soon and to go for full custody with supervised visitations for him. She looks very tired and her girls are old enough now to understand and feel humiliated by their dad’s antics. He seems like a man who suffers from mental disorders, maybe depression, and he must be exhausting to people around him.
Five years from now we will still be talking about how he’s still addicted to everything, how she’s still enabling, and how pathetic both of them are. The divorce still won’t be finalized, Ben will be on his 25th Playmate, and Jen will be a born-again virgin.
Anyone who is buying what his PR team is selling, I have a river to sell you.
His team is very transparent. Ben came up with every excuse as to why he kept leaving the Rehab Center. He had to work out (even though the rehab center had a big gym) he had business meeting, it was the girlfriend fault. Then he stop being public about leaving rehab for a week or two and now claims to have done 40 days.
He did the same thing the last two times he was in rehab along with the statements.
Ben could also be trying to push this divorce along as well as Jen. So why have we only heard that Jen is trying to speed up their divorce? I dont think that he is trying to speed it up because i think Jen is going to go for full custody with Ben getting supervised visitation. This is why he issued that statement ” i am fighting for my family.” I don’t know how anyone can take him serious with him dating a 22 year old Playboy bunny, who just posted a pic with her lifting her skirt & showing her @ss & even better her tongue! And Jen knows that this last rehab was a huge joke & that he probably is not sober & he has left her no choice but to seek full custody….
Why does he need to release a statement? Focus Ben!
Guess it’s for his studio.
Has he released a statement re his friend Dr. Mukwege receiving the Nobel Peace Prize? Dr. Mukwege has fought for victims of sexual violence in the Congo for years and has publicly worked with Ben, himself the founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative. I mean while his pr is posting long profound statements on social media and all.
Ben doesn’t care about anyone but himself.
Gawd, he’s been with the bunny much longer than they’re letting on. He’s still drinking. Don’t know if he’ll ever stop at this rate.
I tend to agree that the bunny has been around awhile. I think she played a role in the demise of the Shookus relationship. Lindsay was often referred to as the public mistress and there were several blinds about a young girlfriend. TMZ is reporting more details about the custody arrangement. As most expected, Jen has the kids with monitored visits with Ben. Interesting side note – the kids will have a voice as they are getting older. (TMZ did not need to disclose this info). I think his relationship with the kids has greatly deteriorated. He has been missing for large chunks of their childhoods, especially Sam’s. Violet is almost 13 and surely knows about his many poor life decisions and the effect they have had on Jen and the family.
He seems like he only sees his kids when he goes to church. He seems like a dead beat dad. That bunny is pretty vulgar with the obscenities and nudity on her instagram. Those poor kids. I bet the older girls hate their father for his disgusting lifestyle and humiliating and hurting their mother.
For all the naysayers – their divorce is finalized. – as reported in people, us etc.
TMZ says that it still isn’t final.
TMZ had said the divorce papers were done and Jen is waiting for Ben to leave rehab before she has him sign it. LOL. I’m sure there will be any other “for the children’s sake” excuse a month from now when it’s still not signed!
Had Jen signed the divorce papers 3 or 4 years ago, she could have started a new life by now. Maybe have a long-term partner who is a role-model of how a responsible and loving spouse behaves (for her daughters). She could have stayed friends with Ben and continued to help him for her children’s sake. But she wouldn’t have to live in the crappy hell he has created for himself. This is why divorce is ultimately healthier for children of well to do parents with resources.
I don’t ever buy this guys claims of recovery. Who is he kidding?? I imagine everyone that knows him are rolling their eyes. I can’t believe he is still with the centerfold.
Not. Staying. Sober. Period. The. End.
And monitored visits will his kids because he cant even be trusted around his three children. How sad!
He makes horrible life choices and doesnt seem to be ashamed of them at all. I think the bunny porn model was the final straw- him hanging around the bunny is very indicative of the seedy alternative lifestyle he is leading.
I agree!