Ben Affleck gave his daughter Violet some tough love before she gave THAT speech.
Earlier this month, the 18-year-old, who’s the eldest of Ben and ex-wife Jennifer Garner’s three children, gave a fiery speech in front of the LA County Board of Supervisors strongly opposing a mask ban. She pleaded for increased mask availability, air filtration, and uvc light in public spaces, as well as mask mandates in county medical facilities. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look (below):
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Part of the reason the teen was so passionate is because of personal health issues, which she touched on in the speech. An insider previously told DailyMail.com she’s tired of “having to defend her mask wearing” as she “gets called a hypochondriac, paranoid and other names simply because she is protecting her health.” The insider also revealed Ben and Jen wanted her to wait until she was 18 to give the speech, but now we’re hearing that her famous dad had even MORE advice. Over the weekend, a source told DailyMail.com:
“While Ben and Jen will always support their daughter, Ben had a conversation with her and told her that she needs to be realistic with this because he doesn’t want her to waste all of her time putting effort into something that probably won’t make a difference in the long run. He knows how strongly she feels about this, but now that Violet is an adult, he felt that it was his duty to let her know that she is David fighting Goliath and that most people unfortunately do not feel the same way she does about this.”
It sounds like he was trying to be a protective father… We all know Ben has struggled with being criticized in the limelight himself, so he probably just doesn’t want the same for his daughter… Or for her to at least be prepared for the possibility of scrutiny.
The source also claimed the Argo star felt Violet was possibly depending too much on his and Jen’s fame to help achieve her goal… Which didn’t end up working out:
“He was also concerned that Violet felt as if her parent’s star power was going to be able to guarantee her the outcome that she wanted which, in this case, it is not.”
Yikes… And on top of that, the young woman is said to be having a hard time dealing with some of the “ridicule” she’s been receiving from tolls in the wake of her speech. The source dished:
“Violet is extremely disheartened and feels that her plea did nothing more than to set her up for further ridicule. She believes that her plea for mask mandates fell on deaf ears because it isn’t even being considered.”
Poor girl! It’s a tough world she stepped into, but her bravery alone speaks volumes. Unfortunately, the source noted that she feels pretty defeated. A second source added that her parents “will continue to support her in any way that they can,” and that she’s “trying to not get fully disenfranchised from pursuing things that mean something to her in the future.”
We hope she keeps at it!
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments down below.
[Images via Elle & Variety/YouTube, & MEGA/WENN]
