In a world of spoiled nepo babies, it sounds like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s kids will know the true meaning of hard work.
Ben and Jen were married from 2005 to 2015, and in that time, they welcomed three children together: Violet, 19; Seraphina, 16; and Samuel, 13. Though the Affleck kids live a low-key life away from the spotlight, their parents occasionally provide updates on what they’re doing — and earlier this year, we learned that Sam has a taste for expensive sneakers.
During a father-son trip to a sneaker-shopping convention in March, a viral clip showed Samuel picking out a pair of $6,000 Dior Air Jordan 1s and presenting them to his dad. “You like those ‘cause they’re expensive,” Ben told his son, who replied in defence: “No, they’re tough! I’ve always said they look good.” Despite being worth an estimated $150 million, the Gone Girl star was not about to splash out on the expensive sneakers, and instead gave his son a lesson in hard work, much to the amusement of fans.
Now, appearing on Today with Jenna & Friends to promote The Accountant 2, Ben provided some more context to the viral video — and gave an update on Sam’s feelings about being a “broke” teen.
“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?’” Ben joked with guest host Andy Cohen, who, like many others, praised his parenting. “He was like, ‘We have the money.’ I was like, ‘I have the money! You’re broke.’ As far as I know, you lend me $5,000! You got nothing!”
After laughing about the situation, Ben took a more serious tone as he talked about the value of teaching his kids the value of money and hard work, particularly while growing up in immense wealth. “You love your kids. You want to give them everything and do everything for them, but I think you definitely do them a disservice by not connecting — [if] you want something meaningful that you want, you have to work for that,” he said.
Andy quickly followed up by asking Ben whether his kids actually have jobs, prompting him to share that his older children are already out there earning their own money. “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,” Ben revealed. “My older one in college is working and trying to get an internship for the summer.”
As for Samuel, Ben joked that his youngest is still “reckoning with” the reality of not having his own money. “He’s looking at no shoes in his closet. Well, he’s got shoes, just no crazy expensive fancy shoes,” he said. “And I’m like, if you want that, you can work 1,000 hours. Minimum wage. And once you work 1,000 hours, you may not want to spend that on a pair of sneakers.”
Notably, the comments section on the Today clip is filled with yet more praise for the actor, with fans continuing to hail his “great parenting.”
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