Ben Affleck isn’t raising spoiled kids. He’s making sure they learn the value of money—starting with his 13-year-old son, Samuel.
Last month, a video of Affleck shutting down Samuel’s request for $6,000 Dior Air Force 1s went viral. On "Today with Jenna & Friends," the actor shared more about that moment—and his parenting style.
“He wanted these sneakers, and I was like, ‘These sneakers are $6,000, what are you talking about? What are you going to do: mow lawns? You got $6,000?’” Affleck said. “He was like, ‘We have the money.’ I was like, ‘I have the money! You’re broke.’”
Affleck believes in teaching his kids to earn what they want. “You love your kids. You want to give them everything,” he said. “But I think you definitely do them a disservice by not connecting [if] you want something… you have to work for that.”
He shares Samuel with ex-wife Jennifer Garner, along with two older children. And those two? Already working jobs of their own.
“My oldest two have jobs,” Affleck said. “One just got a job… I won’t say what it is. My older one in college is working and trying to get an internship for the summer.”
Samuel’s still learning. “He’s looking at no shoes in his closet,” Affleck joked. “Well, he’s got shoes. Just no crazy-expensive, fancy shoes.”
“And I’m like, ‘Well, if you want that, you can work 1,000 hours,’” he added. “Minimum wage. And once you work 1,000 hours, you may not want to spend that on a pair of shoes.”
In the March 3 video, Affleck and Samuel browsed sneakers at a convention. When they saw the Dior pair, Affleck joked, “That’s a lot of lawns you got to mow there.”
Later, he told Access Hollywood, “That’s what happens when you tell a mother------ they have to mow a lawn. All of a sudden, they don’t want those shoes.”
Affleck knows the value of hard work. Raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his mom was a teacher with a Harvard degree. His dad worked as a janitor, bartender, and mechanic—battling alcoholism before becoming an addiction counselor.
Affleck’s lesson is clear: No matter who your dad is, Dior doesn’t come easy.