Ben Affleck defends his 'broke' nepo babies after refusing to buy son Samuel $6K sneakers despite $150M fortune

Daily Mail​

23-04-2025

Ben Affleck defended his 'broke' nepo babies after he went viral for refusing to buy his teenage son $6,000 sneakers.
The 52-year-old actor shed insight on his parenting style while chatting about his teenage kids having jobs during Tuesday's episode of Today with Jenna & Friends.
He previously made headlines after a video of him went viral, in which he criticized his son Samuel, 13, for asking for a pair of Dior Air Force 1s with the whopping sticker price.
On the talk show, the Batman star, who recently dished on his failed marriage to Jennifer Lopez, explained why he refused to buy them for his son — in spite of his alleged $150 million net worth.
In addition to his son Samuel, Affleck also shares his teenage kids Violet, 19, and Fin, 16, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
'He wanted these sneakers, and I was like, "These sneakers are $6,000, what are you talking about? What are you gonna do, mow lawns? You got $6,000?' Affleck joked as he recalled their interaction.
'He was like, "We have the money." I was like, "I have the money! You're broke."'
Affleck reiterated that he 'wants to give them everything' but believes his children 'have to work' for what they want.
'You love your kids. You want to give them everything and do everything for them, but I think you definitely do them a disservice by not connecting [if] you want something that you want, you have to work for that.'
Then, the Gone Girl star explained that his two oldest kids are already working.
'Yeah, my oldest two have jobs,' he replied when guest co-host Andy Cohen brought up the topic.
'In fact, one just got a job, the kind of classic teenager working a shop job — I won't say what it is. My older one in college is working and trying to get an internship for the summer.'
He continued about his youngest child now coming to age and learning the money lesson from his father.
'And yeah, my son, who's 13, he's reckoning with that reality right now,' Affleck said.
'He's looking at no shoes in his closet. Well, he's got shoes, just no crazy expensive fancy shoes,' he added.
'And I'm like, "Well, if you want that, you can work 1,000 hours." You know what I mean? Minimum wage. And once you work 1,000 hours, you may not want to spend that on a pair of sneakers.'
The Accountant alum recalled the shoe-related learning lesson occurring back in March when they enjoyed a father-son outing at a sneaker convention.
While the two sneakerheads were perusing through the space, a pair of shoes caught Samuel's eye.
Meanwhile, Affleck was caught up by the price tag.
'That's a lot of lawns you gotta mow there,' the actor jokingly told his son in the video. Affleck also said his son only liked them because they were expensive before the teenager insisted, 'No, they're tough. I always said they look good.'
Later that same month, Affleck stood firm by his decision at the South by Southwest premiere of his The Accountant 2 movie.
'That's what happens when you tell a motherf***er they have to mow the lawn,' he told Access Hollywood.
'All of a sudden, they don't want those shoes, and he was like, "But I always said they were tough." I'm like, "Man, you do not need $1,000 shoes." He's like, "We have the money." I'm like, "I have the money. You're broke."'