Months after finalizing his highly publicized divorce from Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck claimed he empathizes with Britney Spears while talking about life in the public eye. Getting candid on “This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von” podcast, the actor said he has “a lot of empathy” for Spears as he discussed the cruelty of fame. Affleck opened up about the subject while talking to Von and compared his experiences with the paparazzi to those of the singer at a time that “may or may not have been” difficult for her.
Ben Affleck has compassion for Britney Spears over how paparazzi treat celebrities
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have come to terms with their split after settling their divorce and have opened up about their respective stories on multiple occasions. As they now focus on tying up certain loose ends, like their Beverly Hills mansion, the latter shared his views on being in the spotlight and the “cruelty” of fame while talking to Theo Von on his popular podcast. In doing so, he spoke about having compassion for one such star and her brushes with the paparazzi. “Years and years ago, I really had a lot of empathy for Britney Spears,” he recalled.
The actor clarified that the pop sensation wasn’t somebody he “knew or hung out with” back then. However, he immediately understood the callousness of paps constantly “following her around” because of his own experience of life in the public eye. “Having had my own experience myself, I knew that these are people who are following her [Spears] around in a time where she may or may not have been having difficulty,” he told the host, clarifying that it was just a speculation.
Ben Affleck continued that he recognized the “cycle of having people harangue you and yell at you and hassle you and follow you,” despite knowing little about Britney Spears at the unspecified time. He explained that the process seemed like “kind of whipping up the whole thing into a tizzy.”
The Oscar winner claimed that’s when he realized it was a “weird kind of an unintentional — I think culturally — but kind of collective cruelty.” He then collated the paparazzi agitating celebrities with “waving the stick at the tiger or poking on it,” which result in them appearing annoyed or looking like “growling animal.”
Originally reported by Nikita Mahato on Reality Tea.
