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Jennifer Garner is talking about the relentless paparazzi attention she and her children faced during her marriage to Ben Affleck, describing the ordeal as both "totally ludicrous" and dangerous.
Appearing on the Shut Up Evan podcast, Jennifer reflected on the years before California passed laws protecting children from aggressive photographers, a legislation she and Halle Berry fought for in 2013.
Garner recalled how the constant pursuit of photos turned everyday family moments into hazards. "If I went through a yellow light, 15 cars would go through the red behind me. They would drive up onto people's lawns, even on a hillside," she said. "We were trying to have our little one play soccer, and the association asked us to stop because there were 20 cars coming."
The actress, who shares Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel with Affleck, explained that the chaos extended to doctor visits. "If you show up and you're trying to get into the pediatrician and you have a sick kid on your shoulder and you're scared and you can't get into the door because you're blocked by photographers, there's something wrong with that," she said.
"Kids were getting knocked over coming out of preschool by photographers who were so hungry to get to me or to Ben, trying to get to our kids."
Garner acknowledged her family's privilege but stressed that the situation was "a danger to everyone around us." She noted that despite living on a street with "much more famous and successful people," the paparazzi targeted her because she had young children.
"They wouldn't follow Ben. They wouldn't follow Matt Damon. They were like, 'There's the chick with the kids.'"
Even today, Garner says she is shadowed by two photographers who have "been assigned to me for 20-plus years, 25 years." Her relationship with one has become oddly complicated. "We've had some really real-life moments together," she admitted.
"I was followed by someone who, for whatever reason, I thought was going to hurt me, and I ran to him because I knew him and trusted him. There's kind of a Stockholm Syndrome thing, and at the same time, I've called the cops on him a million times."
