Los Angeles, CA – Ben Affleck has advised his daughter Violet to be ‘realistic’ about her campaigning and not to 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, 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. In her speech, she detailed her experience of contracting a ‘post-viral condition’ in 2019. Her unexpected speech, which lasted just over a minute, proved divisive, with some praising her ‘courageous’ stance, while others branded her ‘utterly deluded.’
Violet, the eldest daughter of Ben, 51, and his ex-wife Jennifer Garner, 52, is reportedly struggling with the ‘ridicule’ and feels ‘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 about 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 knows how strongly she feels about this, but now that Violet is an adult, he felt that it was important to warn her that she is David fighting Goliath and that most people are just not going to see things the same way she does about this,” the insider added.
It has been reported that Violet feels if her parents’ star power was going to be able to help her accomplish what she wanted, which in this case, it is not.
During her speech, Violet urged the board to ‘confront the long COVID crisis’ by implementing stricter regulations, offering high-quality tests, and opposing a ban on masks.
She also advocated for improving air filtration and Far-UVC light in government facilities, and demanded an end to ‘all mask bans and mask mandates in medical facilities,’ she said.