This Father's Day, Jennifer Garner paid tribute to both the father figures in her life – her own late dad, William John Garner, and her ex-husband, Ben Affleck.
Jennifer, 54, was married to Ben, 53, from 2005 to 2018, welcoming kids Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 14, while together. The pair first established a friendship while working on Pearl Harbor (2001) and Daredevil (2003) together, and started dating soon after.
© InstagramWhile they've been separated for over a decade now, they've remained close friends and co-parents, often spending holidays together and each enjoying close relationships with their three kids.
In March 2024, the Elektra star's dad passed away at the age of 85. He is survived by his widow Patricia and his three daughters, including Jennifer and her two sisters. She has since shared frequent tributes to him and to her other family members.
Jennifer's Father's Day tribute
On Sunday, June 21, the actress penned a tribute to both men, highlighting their strong bonds with their kids, including several throwbacks that especially captured Ben's more fun side.
"My sisters and I loved to spoil our dad; he never wanted for fresh baked cookies or a bowl of ice cream," she began. "I see the way my kids dote on their dad and I'm happy for them. To love and be loved by a great dad is a gift."
She concluded with: "Happy Father's Day to all of the dads and to the kids of dads, too." Fans gushed over the photos with praise for the sweet photos, as well as her successful co-parenting dynamic with her Argo star ex.
© Instagram"These pictures make me smile. There's so much love in every one of them!" one wrote, with another similarly adding: "What a beautiful tribute. You're a class act and wonderful role model," and a third saying: "This is the way we family."
Co-parenting with Ben
While Jennifer has been incredibly open in her continuing friendship with her ex-husband, she has also spoken candidly about the difficulty of navigating that period, particularly stemming from Ben's own health struggles.
"You have to be smart about what you can and can't handle, and I could not handle what was out there," Jennifer said earlier this year in an interview with Marie Claire about dealing with the hubbub surrounding their split.
© Instagram"But what was out there," she continued, "was not what was hard. The fact of it is what was hard. The actual breaking up of a family is what was hard. Losing a true partnership and friendship is what was hard."
"The hardest thing"
She also dubbed the increased interest in their private lives, especially the lives of their children "the hardest thing. Not hard in the grand scheme of what is hard in the world, but tricky for me and tricky for my family."
© InstagramThat also extends to her philosophy of not reading into coverage about them or herself. "It doesn't serve me to take in gossip about myself or anyone else, much less my kids, so I don't do it."
