Ben Affleck has told his daughter that she needs to be ‘realistic’ about her campaigning and can’t rely on his celebrity status after the 18-year-old was left ‘extremely disheartened’ by the response to her speech on mask mandates.
Violet Affleck called for an end to all ‘mask bans’ in medical facilities and government buildings during an impassioned plea to the governing body for Los Angeles County last week, in which she detailed her experience of contracting ‘a post-viral condition’ in 2019.
Unsurprisingly, her unexpected speech, which clocked in at just under one minute, proved divisive, with some hailing her ‘courageous,’ while others branded her ‘utterly deluded.’
Violet, the eldest daughter of Ben, 51, and his ex-wife Jennifer Garner, 52, is said to be struggling with the ‘ridicule’ and has been left feeling ‘alone’ in her fight to strengthen pandemic-era protections.
‘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,’ an insider told DailyMail.com.
Ben Affleck has told his daughter Violet that she needs to be ‘realistic’ about her campaigning after she was left ‘extremely disheartened’ by the response to her speech on mask mandates
Violet, 18, called for an end to all ‘mask bans’ in medical facilities and government buildings during an impassioned plea to the governing body for Los Angeles County last week
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EXCLUSIVE
Violet Affleck takes her mask off while bonding with stepmom Jennifer Lopez in the Hamptons
‘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.
‘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.’
During her speech, Violet urged the board ‘to confront the long COVID crisis’ by strengthening protections, offering high-quality tests and opposing a ban on masks.
‘I demand mask availability, air filtration and Far-UVC light in government facilitates, including jails and detention centers, and mask mandates in county medical faculties,’ she said.
‘You must expand the availability of high-quality free tests and treatment, and most importantly the county must oppose mask bans for any reason.
‘They do not keep us safer. They make vulnerable members of our community less safe and make everyone less able to participate in Los Angeles together.’
Videos of the speech were flooded with comments condemning her advocacy, with one person writing: ‘This girl doesn’t know WTF she’s talking about! Ignorance. So sad.’
Another commented: ‘This is what mania looks like.’
Violet, pictured wearing a mask while out with her step mom Jennifer Lopez last weekend, has faced ridicule in the wake of her speech
Ben was ‘concerned that Violet felt as if her parent’s star power was going to be able to guarantee her the outcome that she wanted’ (pictured with mom Jennifer Garner in May)
Others hailed her a savior with the teen quickly heralded as the voice of advocacy for long Covid sufferers or the immunocompromised.
‘Violet is a hero,’ declared one person on Reddit. ‘You go girl!’
Another wrote: ‘You are a natural born leader and a huge inspiration to the covid aware community. Keep being the greatest person in existence and fighting for our rights.’
Violet – who recently graduated from high school – is now looking to pull back from pushing the pleas further.
‘Violet is extremely disheartened and feels that her plea did nothing more than to set her up for further ridicule,’ the insider continued. ‘She believes that her plea for mask mandates fell on deaf ears because it isn’t even being considered.
‘She stopped reading the critique and, while she is proud of her bravery in doing this, she sees no point in pushing the envelope even further.
‘It is clear to her and to those around her that she is pretty much alone on this one.’
A second source added: ‘Her parents will continue to support her in any way that they can. She truly believes in everything she put forth and if others don’t, that is a shame.
‘She is trying to not get fully disenfranchised from pursuing things that mean something to her in the future.’
Ben and Jennifer laid down strict guidelines ahead of her speech, demanding that she thoroughly educate herself on the subject and wait until she was 18, insiders previously told DailyMail.com.
Violet, pictured without a mask alongside her mom in 2022, is now looking to pull back from pushingher pleas further, the insider said
Her mask wearing had become a hot topic of conversation online with neither Violet or her parents previously addressing it publicly.
She was notably seen wearing a mask at Michael Rubin’s White Party in 2023 and more recently while attending a Broadway show with Ben and her stepmom Jennifer Lopez.
She appeared to make a nod to her condition in May 2024 when she was pictured wearing a mask and carrying Steven Thrasher’s award-winning 2022 book, The Viral Underclass while spending time with her mom.
But just days after her passionate plea, she was spotted without the mask during a day out with Lopez in the Hamptons.
The teen whipped off the protective face covering as she browsed the East Hampton Antiques & Design Show with a friend in tow, and was sat unmasked inside a marquee filled with people.
Violet’s siblings Fin, formerly Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12, have not been pictured wearing masks.
Jennifer and Ben announced their separation in 2015 after nearly 10 years of marriage, and officially filed for divorce in 2017.
Jennifer has since moved on with businessman John Miller, while Ben rekindled his romance with Lopez in April 2021 before tying the knot in July 2022.
But their marriage has been plagued by split claims for the past two months, with the stars no longer living together.