Ben Affleck distanced himself from a “made-up” story that the Federal Bureau of Investigation visited his home earlier this year because he was under investigation.
The actor finally set the record straight as to why FBI agents were photographed outside his house in Brentwood, Calif., in his GQ cover story out Tuesday.
Affleck explained that he had found out about the visit through an online article that cited anonymous sources, which he thought was “strange.”
After making a call to law enforcement, the Oscar winner connected with “somebody who is actually responsible for what was happening.”
He recalled the person telling him, “Oh, we had no idea that was your house.”
Affleck, 52, shared that he later discovered someone had broken into a federal official’s home nearby, adding, “So the FBI went around and whoever lived there, the FBI rang their bell, but because there are photographers sitting outside and these guys have their FBI jackets on, then it’s: The FBI has visited your house.”
The “Argo” star clarified that the probe had nothing to do with a drone crash that had happened “two of three miles up Mandeville Canyon.”
“In fact, we were very far from where the drone was,” he noted. “So it’s like: You’ve seen this event about the FBI at my house. I had no idea. My only involvement was to track it down, figure it out.”
In January, authorities were photographed outside Affleck’s home.
A representative for the FBI’s press relations office told Page Six at the time that “members of the FBI‘s Ground Intercept task force [were] conducting activity in the area of the Palisades Fire relative to unauthorized drone activity.
“Agents and our local partners may be visible throughout the area, including at various residences, for this reason,” they added.
A source, meanwhile, told us, “FBI agents were at Affleck’s home to see if he had CCTV footage of a private drone which damaged a super scooper, one of the firefighting aircrafts.”
At the time, the “Good Will Hunting” star had been forced to spend the night at his ex Jennifer Garner’s home due to the wildfires raging near his place.
An insider confirmed to us that “Ben’s home [was] under evacuation order,” but he felt “so grateful” his property was safe.
In his GQ interview, Affleck also talked about his two ex-wives: Garner and Jennifer Lopez.
After gushing over how Garner, also 52, is such a “good co-parent and partner,” he emphasized how much “respect” he has for Lopez, 55, despite acknowledging that they did not “always have the same attitude toward” being in the public eye.
He added, “I guess there’s a tendency to look at breakups and want to identify root causes or something. But honestly, like I said, the truth is much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting.”
Affleck insisted the end of his second marriage contained “no scandal, no soap opera [and] no intrigue.”
However, he refused to share the reasons for their divorce because it was “sort of embarrassing” and “vulnerable.”
Affleck was married to Garner, with whom he shares three children, from 2005 to 2018. He then tied the knot with Lopez in 2022 before shockingly calling it quits two years later.
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