Ben Affleck’s children — at least the older two — work hard for their money. Some might even say they’re just like Us!
“My oldest two have jobs. In fact, one just got a job, the kind of classic teenager working a shop job — I won’t say what it is,” Affleck, 52, said during an appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends on Tuesday, April 22. “My older one in college is working and trying to get an internship for the summer.”
Affleck shares three kids — Violet, 19, Seraphina, 16, and Samuel, 13 — with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
The actor spoke candidly about the viral moment when he turned down Samuel, who asked for a $6,000 pair of sneakers.
“He wanted these sneakers, and I was like, ‘These sneakers are $6,000, what are you talking about? What are you gonna do, mow lawns? You got $6,000?’” Affleck joked on Monday. “He was like, ‘We have the money.’ I was like, ‘I have the money! You’re broke.’”
Fatherhood fun! Ben Affleck has given rare glimpses of his bond with his and Jennifer Garner’s three kids over the years. The actor first became a dad in December 2005 when he and the Alias alum welcomed daughter Violet, six months after tying the knot in France. The then-couple went on to welcome daughter Seraphina […]
Affleck told host Jenna Bush Hager and guest host Andy Cohen that “you do [kids] a disservice” by not making them work for things.
“You love your kids,” he added. “You want to give them everything and do everything for them.”
Just not when it comes to a $6,000 pair of shoes.
“My son, who’s 13, he’s reckoning with that reality right now. He’s looking at no shoes in his closet. Well, he’s got shoes, just no crazy expensive fancy shoes,” Affleck continued. “And I’m like, ‘Well, if you want that, you can work 1,000 hours.’ You know what I mean? Minimum wage. And once you work 1,000 hours, you may not want to spend that on a pair of sneakers.”
The original video of Affleck and Samuel went viral last month after the father-son duo walked through a sneaker convention. Samuel had his eyes on the Dior Air Force 1 shoe with his dad joking, “That’s a lot of lawns you gotta’ mow there,” once he saw the price tag.
Days later, Affleck was quick to joke about the moment during an interview with Access Hollywood — and no, Samuel has yet to start mowing any lawns.
“That’s what happens. You tell a motherf***er they have to mow the lawn, [and] all of a sudden they don’t want those shoes,” he quipped on March 10. “[Samuel] was like, ‘But I always said they were tough.’ There’s always some grift. I’m like, ‘But you do not need thousand dollar shoes!’ … I have the money — you’re broke.”
