Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s Daughter Violet Affleck Speaks Out About Health in Rare Speech

Violet Affleck is giving insight into her health.

The 18-year-old daughter of exes Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner made a rare public appearance July 9 to discuss her medical journey, as well as the importance of masking.

“I contracted a post-viral condition in 2019,” Violet shared in a passionate speech to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. “I’m OK now, but I saw firsthand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown that into sharper relief.”

"One in 10 infections leads to long COVID,” she continued during her one-minute allotted time, “which is a devastating neurological and cardiovascular illness that can take away people's ability to work, see, move and even think.”

While most people who contracted the virus recovered within a few weeks of infection, some continued to have symptoms long after, like fatigue, respiratory issues and joint or muscle pain.

The recent high school graduate, who is often seen wearing a mask in public, made headlines in May after being photographed carrying the book The Viral Underclass, which highlights how social structures impact how individuals are affected by diseases. 

And during her July 9 speech, she emphasized that the virus’ effects disproportionately affect vulnerable communities.

“To confront the long COVID crisis,” Violet noted, “I demand mask availability, air filtration and far-UVC lights in government facilities, including jails and detention centers and mask mandates in county medical facilities."

She concluded her comments by urging LA county to oppose mask bans, which she said will “make vulnerable members of our community less safe and make everyone less able to participate in Los Angeles together."

Violet’s impassioned speech will come as no surprise to her loved ones. After all, Jennifer—who also shares Serafina, 15, and Samuel, 12, with Ben—revealed how her eldest daughter’s time on the debate team was so impactful.

“It is incredible for building confidence and for building the ability to articulate an argument,” the 13 Going on 30 actress said on Live with Kelly and Mark in November. “I grew up in the South, I didn’t know how to have an argument until I was like 40.”

Now, keep reading for more quotes on parenthood from Jennifer.

When it comes to co-parenting, Jennifer Garner will always maintain a cordial relationship with her ex-husband Ben Affleck for the sake of their children: Violet, Seraphina and Samuel.

“It’s not Ben’s job to make me happy," Garner shared in a 2016 Vanity Fair interview. "The main thing is these kids―and we’re completely in line with what we hope for them."

She continued, "Sure, I lost the dream of dancing with my husband at my daughter’s wedding. But you should see their faces when he walks through the door. And if you see your kids love someone so purely and wholly, then you’re going to be friends with that person.”

Though she and Affleck are both successful actors, Garner doesn't want their kids to live inside a Hollywood bubble.

"It's really important for my kids to see that everyone doesn’t have the lives they see in Los Angeles," she told Southern Living. "That doesn’t reflect the rest of the world. I want them to grow up with the Southern values I had―to look at people when they say hello and to stop and smell the roses."

And that's why her parenting style is very hands-on.

“I think teaching your kids anything is a lifelong job and certainly values are something―you can’t just say, ‘Here, have values!’" she previously told E! News. "You have to show them that you have values."

Explaining how setting a good example is the "most important job," the Alias alum added that she and Affleck—who she split with in 2015 after 10 years of marriage—hope that their kids "see and appreciate the work we do."

Of course, there is no one standard way of parenting.

“As much as you think that, ’OK, I’m going to follow what this person says,'" Garner noted during a 2016 appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, "it’s not up to you, dude."

Advising parents to "let it go" when it comes to their worries, the 13 Going on 30 star continued, "You’re going to struggle. It’s going to suck—just like for everyone else."

For Garner, the key to maintaining a good structure for her kids is setting up boundaries and rules.

"You just have to do it," she explained to Us Weekly. "It’s not pretty. I don’t think that I’m always the best at it, but I try my best to be consistent and for them to know what they can expect from me."

And when she does experience a roadblock in her parenting journey, Garner believes "every day is a fresh start."

You always can say, ‘Today, we’re going to try this!'" she told People. "And if it goes horribly, you can say, ‘Today, we’re throwing that out, and we’re trying this!’"

The actress added, "That’s part of what I like about being a mom in general."

Garner's motherhood joy extends into the cinematic universe as well.

"I’m really glad that I’m playing moms," she told Today, "because there’s no more rich time in women’s lives than when you have your babies."

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