At a Glance
- Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck married in 2005, divorced in 2018, and share three children: Violet (20), Seraphina (17), and Samuel (13)
- The couple fiercely protected their kids from paparazzi, with Violet once declaring the cameras “scary” and the men “knock each other over”
- Both stars rebuilt separate lives-Garner dating CEO John Miller, Affleck briefly remarrying Jennifer Lopez-while continuing to co-parent
**Why it matters: Shows how A-list exes navigate privacy, public scrutiny, and teenage milestones two decades after their romance began.
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck turned the end of their Hollywood marriage into a united parenting front, raising Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel under relentless media glare yet shielding them from the spotlight whenever possible.
The Early Years: Paparazzi Chaos
From the day Violet was born on December 1, 2005, the couple faced camera chaos. Garner told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2021 that five-year-old Violet once stood on a chair and announced: “We didn’t ask for this. We don’t want these cameras, they’re scary. The men are scary, they knock each other over and it’s hard to feel like a kid when you’re being chased.”
The constant attention “put so much anxiety in our little family,” Garner said, prompting her to lobby for a law criminalizing paparazzi photos of children taken without parental consent.
Violet: Private Teen to Public Advocate
Now 20 and a Yale sophomore, Violet has stepped into the public eye on her own terms:
- July 2024: Urged the L.A. County Board of Supervisors to expand mask availability and free COVID testing
- September 2024: Spoke about COVID’s impact at the United Nations
- May 2025: Published an academic paper in Yale’s Global Health Review on surviving the L.A. wildfires
She still makes rare family appearances, attending a 2022 White House state dinner with Garner and a 2023 Fanatics “White Party” with Affleck and then-wife Jennifer Lopez.
Seraphina: The Creative Middle Child
Born January 6, 2009, Seraphina has remained largely out of the press. Garner once joked on Ellen that Affleck “can sit there and be almost asleep and they think they’re having an incredible game with him” during tea parties.
The former couple hosted a small ninth-birthday party for Seraphina together in 2018, shortly after their divorce was finalized.
Samuel: Boston Dad, L.A. Kid
February 27, 2012 brought the couple’s only son, Samuel, who inherited Affleck’s love of Boston sports-though not without a learning curve.
When Samuel declared “I’m from L.A.” before a Red Sox game, Affleck decked the boy’s room in Patriots gear: a Tom Brady-shaped chair, a giant football slide, and a life-sized Brady poster. “My ex-wife thinks it’s creepy,” Affleck joked on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Affleck coached Samuel’s Little League team, once cutting an international press trip short because “I’m the coach.” In 2022 and 2023 the pair sat courtside at Celtics games and introduced teams at NBA All-Star Weekend.
Co-Parenting After Divorce
The actors announced their split in June 2015 and finalized the divorce in 2018. Both have since moved on:
- Garner has dated CEO John Miller on-and-off since 2018
- Affleck married Jennifer Lopez in 2022; she filed for divorce in August 2024
Despite new partners, the exes prioritize shared milestones. Affleck told News Of Los Angeles in 2021 that director George Clooney accommodated his parenting schedule on The Tender Bar set: “He really understood how important it was for me to see my kids.”
Protecting Kids From Public Scrutiny
Affleck admitted to the Los Angeles Times in January 2022 that he stopped reading coverage about himself until his kids started seeing it online. “That’s the difficult part,” he said.
Garner has echoed the sentiment, noting that paparazzi made simple activities like soccer games impossible. “They just said, ‘Can you please not,'” she recalled PBS’ Tell Me More in October 2020.
Key Takeaways
- Three kids, two coasts, one goal: Garner and Affleck maintain a united front on education, health advocacy, and sports-no matter who they’re dating
- Privacy remains paramount: From Violet’s first kindergarten protest to Samuel’s coached baseball games, the parents continue to limit media exposure
- Independent identities emerging: Violet’s Yale activism shows the children choosing when, where, and how to enter the public eye on their own terms
