Ben Affleck is no stranger to the pressure of living life in the public eye. The actor has lived the majority of his adult life in the spotlight, with his personal life making headlines, including his relationship struggles and family life.
The actor recently reflected on the compassion he feels towards other celebrities, including Britney Spears, during one of the most tumultuous times in her career. During an appearance on the This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von podcast, the actor opened up about his empathy for the singer.
Britney's personal life and career have been heavily criticized at different points in her life, including constant scrutiny from the paparazzi at the peak of her fame. Affleck touched on the subject while looking back at his own experiences.
“A long time ago, years and years ago, I really had a lot of empathy for Britney Spears because I remember it seemed like — I mean, [she’s] not someone I knew or hung out with — but just like everybody else, you see all this s--- that comes through," he said during the conversation.
While the two were not friends, Affleck related to the intense media attention and harassment that came with being a public figure. He continued, “But having had my own experiences myself, I knew these are people who are following her around at a time where she may or may not have been having difficulty.”
The actor is no stranger to dealing with the paparazzi himself, explained how it felt to be in the shoes of a celebrity constantly followed by photographers. “I didn’t know what she was dealing with at the time since I didn’t know her,” he said.
“But I understood the cycle of having people harangue you, yell at you, hassle you, and follow you. It creates a tizzy," he continued, linking the behavior of paparazzi to “poking a stick” at someone just to provoke a negative reaction.
“That’s the first time I thought this is kind of a weird, unintentional — I think culturally — but kind of collective cruelty," Affleck added. “What’s taken out of the image that you see are the people around waving the stick at the tiger, poking it, and all you see is the growling animal.”
Last year, he shared some of his frustrations on Peacock’s Hart to Heart, admitting that constant attention from photographers takes its toll.
“I also don’t like a lot of attention,” he confessed. “That’s why people see me and they’re like, ‘Why’s this dude always mad?’ Because somebody has their camera and sticks it in my face and I’m like, ‘Okay, here we go.’”