NEWSBen Affleck Admits He Has 'a Lot of Empathy' for Britney Spears Amid His 'Own Experiences' With Paparazzi Following Him
Ben Affleck understands Britney Spears' hatred of paparazzi.
Ben Affleck and Britney Spears have one major thing in common: they aren’t fond of paparazzi.
During a guest appearance on Theo Von’s "This Past Weekend" podcast, The Accountant 2 actor admitted he feels for the Princess of Pop, whose experience in the spotlight has been rather traumatizing.
The actor said he has 'empathy' for Britney Spears due to his 'own experiences' with paparazzi.
Reflecting on the pap culture in Hollywood, Affleck recalled: "A long time ago, I really had a lot of empathy for Britney Spears."
Noting the "Toxic" singer wasn't someone he "knew or hung out with," Affleck said he related to the vocalist after seeing "all the s---" that came out about her in tabloids and on the internet.
Britney Spears was intensely followed by paparazzi during her 2007-2008 public meltdown.
"Having had my own experiences myself, I knew these people [were] following her around in a time where she may or may not have been having difficulty," the Gone Girl actor explained.
Affleck — whose had his fair share of headline-making paparazzi encounters — continued: "I don't know, because I don't know her, but I do know that the cycle of having people harangue and yell at you and hassle you and follow you, it kind of seemed like that itself [could have caused Spears' mental health to decline].
Watching Spears' rough experience in the spotlight was "the first time" Affleck felt paparazzi culture was "a weird kind of unintentional but collective cruelty," the Good Will Hunting star confessed.
"Where what's taken out of the image that you see" is "the growling animal" and not "the people waving the stick at the tiger or poking on it."
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Ben Affleck has lashed out on paparazzi for following him around.
"It's not even real. It's not what would be happening if this effect wasn't taking place," he added. "And that's where I thought the wisest thing to do [was] to maintain one's perspective and try to remove yourself a little bit."
Affleck additionally admitted he is "self-conscious" and doesn't want fans "seeing" his private life.
"As an actor, it's no good for you because I don't really want people, if they watch a movie, to be like, 'that's not him. Because I saw him yesterday at lunch and I know he's who he really is.' It gets in the way of you being able to create the illusion."
The Air star said he’d be "much happier" if he was just "left alone," though he understands there is a "symbiotic relationship" between Hollywood and the press.
Britney Spears admitted last year that she 'hardly goes outside' because of paparazzi.
Spears has also spoken out about how paparazzi make her feel.
In an Instagram post shared last year, the "Gimme More" singer called out photographers who caught her off guard while they snapped photos of her.
"This is how the paps make my legs look when I go out," Spears wrote in June 2024 alongside the image she was referring to, alleging they edit the snaps they publish.
"Not very nice and I hardly go outside 'cause I know what they do...it's embarrassing, the whole subject, but that's exactly what they have always done to me...similar to what my dad used to do...it's demoralizing!!!" she complained at the time.
