Tragic Details About Jennifer Garner And Ben Affleck's Oldest Child Violet

Violet Affleck knows being the child of A-list celebrities can be a double-edged sword. While she’s aware Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have given her a life of wealth and privilege allowed to few, Violet has also experienced plenty of adversities. For starters, Garner often suffocated Violet when she was little as she figured out how to be a mother in Hollywood. But despite their efforts to protect Violet, her parents’ fame prevented her from leading a normal childhood.

Instead of playing in the park, Violet was often being chased by grown men carrying giant cameras that, in her young mind, looked like guns. Because of the paparazzi, Garner told The Hollywood Reporter that Violet and her siblings could never play at the beach until the COVID-19 pandemic introduced social distancing and mask mandates. While the pandemic allowed her some normalcy, Violet’s health was thrown in disarray when she developed a post-viral illness in 2019. She has also experienced family heartbreak amid Ben and Jennifer Lopez’s divorce.

Violet became attached to J.Lo in the three years the singer was with her father. Losing her stepmother after such little time was hard, so she set out to try to convince Ben to work on the marriage by showing public support for Lopez. Violet didn’t just become attached to Lopez but also to the singer’s family, which created issues between Violet and her parents. That became clear when J.Lo’s sister visited Violet at school without Ben and Garner’s knowledge. Navigating those waters is never easy, but doing it in the spotlight likely makes it harder.

Violet Affleck grew up in a spotlight she didn’t ask for. Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck did their best to protect their children’s privacy, but the paparazzi always found a way to take their pictures. Violet hated the experience so much she agreed to speak before local authorities at a gathering her mother organized to ask for more protection. She was just a kindergartener. “Violet’s hyper-articulate — she is Ben Affleck’s daughter,” Garner told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021.

When Garner explained what she was doing, Violet was motivated to share her thoughts. “She stood up on a chair in a little velvet dress, with her hair a bit back and her glasses on and she didn’t say her R’s right, and she said: ‘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,'” Garner recalled.

Harassment from photographers prevented Violet from engaging in regular activities, like sports. “My one daughter tried to play soccer and it was such a zoo for the families that they just said, ‘Can you please not,'” Garner said on “Tell Me More With Kelly Corrigan” in 2020. In August 2013, Garner joined Halle Berry in addressing the California State Assembly Committee on Public Safety to pass legislation aimed at protecting children from paparazzi. Senate Bill 606 was signed into law a month later. 

Nearly 112 million Americans fell ill with COVID-19, and Violet Affleck’s own rough recovery from an illness in 2019 influenced how she reacted to the pandemic. In July 2024, she proved her kindergarten spirit to stand up for what she believes in was alive and well. Speaking before a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting, Affleck revealed she suffered from a post-viral condition to argue for extended mask mandates in medical facilities and mask availability for at-risk populations, like detainees.

“I’m okay now, but I saw firsthand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown that into sharper relief,” she said in a clip shared by The News Movement on TikTok. While Affleck made a full recovery, she highlighted that vulnerable members of society are often left to bear the brunt of long COVID. “It hits communities of color, disabled people, elderly people, trans people, women, and anyone in a public-facing essential job the hardest,” she argued.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, Affleck became known for being one of the few people in Hollywood who continued to mask years after the onset of the health emergency. Before articulating her sentiments in the county meeting, she had already hinted at her stance the previous May when she was photographed with Jennifer Garner. Masked as usual, she carried Steven Thrasher’s “The Viral Underclass,” a book that discusses the link between health crises and inequality (seen above).

Violet Affleck’s relationship with Jennifer Lopez and her family has reportedly put her at odds with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. Following Bennifer’s quiet divorce in August 2024, Violet maintained her close bond with her former stepmother. But Violet’s efforts put her father in a difficult situation. “Ben certainly doesn’t want to cause any strain between Jen and Violet, and he is in support of them spending time together. It’s a little tricky for him,” a source told ET.

However, his feelings are different regarding Violet’s insistence on staying close with J.Lo’s family. Ben was reportedly annoyed that the pop star’s sister, Lynda Lopez, visited his daughter at Yale in November 2024, particularly because he didn’t learn about it until his former sister-in-law posted a picture online (seen above). “Violet has a strong attachment to JLo and her family,” a source told the Daily Mail. “It’s quite confusing to Ben and Jen [Garner] because they do not understand why Violet is so adamant on keeping her close.”

Violet was said to be the one who invited Lynda to visit her. “He wasn’t aware that Lynda was visiting,” the insider said. Some netizens found Lynda’s decision to post the selfie with Violet on Instagram pretty shady. “I’m confused because her own mother has NEVER posted her children’s picture online. Thirst trap and not in a good way,” one user commented. Either way, J.Lo’s sister made clear the Affleck kids remain family.

When it became clear Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s marriage wouldn’t last, Violet Affleck took desperate measures to show her father he should give it another shot. In mid-August 2024, a week before Lopez filed for divorce, Violet stepped out in the pink dress J.Lo wore to the first Valentine’s Day she celebrated with Affleck as a married couple in 2023. It was reportedly no coincidence. “Wearing her soon-to-be former stepmom’s Valentine’s Day dress was a bit of a statement — she knew what she was doing,” a source told the Daily Mail.

Even though Violet deliberately chose to be seen in public in the Dolce & Gabbana dress, her decision wasn’t exactly well-received. “Those close to her thought it was bizarre,” the insider added. It’s unclear whether Ben felt touched by his daughter’s public appeal, but her gesture ultimately wouldn’t make any difference. “Unfortunately for her, wearing J.Lo’s dress in public is not going to affect Ben’s divorce at all,” the source said.

Besides, Violet made it clear that she wouldn’t cut ties with Lopez. “She is not going to stop talking to JLo and recently enjoyed time in the Hamptons with her,” the insider shared. Her tight bond with J.Lo was visible from the beginning of Bennifer 2.0. Violet even went along with Ben and Lopez on their honeymoon in Paris, where she gave her stepmom a bear hug with a big smile on her face (seen above). 

As a first-time mom, Jennifer Garner struggled to find the balance between being protective and allowing Violet Affleck to explore her autonomy. “It’s gnarly growing up. … [My eldest daughter] didn’t have a shot. She couldn’t have a free thought — I was all over her,” she told Allure in 2023. Garner’s motherhood anxieties were hard on the entire family. “I was a nightmare for everyone around me,” she said.

With time, she understood that parents can’t control every aspect of their children’s lives. For the most part, they are who they are, and parents can only do their best to keep them safe. “Your kids will really figure out who they are and what they are when they’re older, and most likely they will hew toward lovely,” she said. “I have a lot of faith in my kids.” That doesn’t mean she agrees with their every decision. “I don’t love every behavior all the time, always,” she said. But that’s okay.

Despite Garner’s early failures to allow Violet to express herself, her daughter went on to find her voice regardless. Besides her masking activism and early courage to speak up on the paparazzi issue, Violet has shown she isn’t afraid to express her opinions — even if they might be polarizing. In January 2024, she sent a message by wearing a pro-Palestinian crewneck from Wear The Peace, a Chicago-based company that helped raise funds for Gaza amid the 2023 conflict escalation.