The pop princess has gained a scandalous reputation in recent years for her provocative underwear dancing videos, bizarre behavior, and incoherent posts. Back in February last year, Britney Spears revealed that she had a fling with Ben Affleck during her wild youth. At the time of her statement, Affleck was still married to Jennifer Lopez.
Spears posted a throwback photo with Ben Affleck and Diane Warren, which was later deleted. “Cool pic of me, Ben Affleck, and Diane Warren from years ago! He’s such an amazing actor. I forgot to mention that I kissed Ben that night… Honestly, I forgot… Damn, this is crazy! I wish I could tell you guys the story that happened before that! Oh God, I’m just a gossip. Pss, I actually forgot!” Britney captioned the photo.
The 52-year-old actor addressed her comments for the first time during an appearance on the podcast This Past Weekend with Theo Von. “A long time ago, many years back, I really felt for Britney Spears,” he said. “Because I felt like she wasn’t the person I had known and spent time with. Like everyone else, you’d see all the crap coming out. I knew there were people watching her at a time when she might’ve been in trouble. I have my own experience with that. Those people accuse you, yell at you, harass you, and follow you. It all just turns into chaos.”
The two-time Oscar winner seemed to reference Britney’s infamous 2008 breakdown when she shaved her head at a salon. Not long after, she was placed under a 13-year conservatorship controlled by her father, which ended in 2021.
“For the first time, I realized it was culturally strange — almost like a collective cruelty,” Affleck reflected. “People get removed from the frame — the ones poking the tiger or waving a stick at it — and all you see is the tiger roaring. But it’s acting out because someone is provoking it.”
According to Ben, the best response to unusual behavior or odd statements — especially from someone under intense pressure — is often no reaction at all. “Then you think, ‘Okay, this isn’t really news. This isn’t even real. This wouldn’t happen if the circumstances weren’t what they are.’ And I figured the wisest thing was to stay objective and try to stay a little detached,” he added.
