"Did global warming have to do with the speed of the wind?" - Violet Affleck recalls 'arguing' with mother Jennifer Garner as LA fires raged

The eldest daughter of actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, Violet Affleck, who is studying at the prestigious Yale University, recently recalled a conversation she had with her mother and younger brother about the forest fires that engulfed their affluent Los Angeles neighborhood.

Violet felt that the forest fires were an inevitable outcome of global warming. People Magazine noted that according to Violet, her younger brother, Samuel, who is not well-versed in global warming yet, asked his older sibling:

“Did global warming have to do with the speed of the wind?”

Unlike her mother, who was confounded by the level of devastation the fires caused, Violet believed that such tragic incidents were to be expected, reported People Magazine. The publication noted that Violet recalled arguing with her mother about the underlying cause of the LA fires and said:

"I spent the January fires in Los Angeles arguing with my mother in a hotel room...As a lifelong Angelena and climate-literate member of generation Z, my question had not been whether the Palisades would burn but when."

Violet Affleck as a scholar and an activist

According to Hello Magazine, Violet Affleck wrote an essay for Yale’s Global Health Review. The news outlet noted that the paper, titled ‘A Chronically Ill Earth: COVID Organizing as a Model Climate Response in Los Angeles,’ was published on May 18.

Violet took a consciously critical stance regarding the approach to tackling the issue of global warming. Hello Magazine noted that, according to Violet, it is imperative to acknowledge the source of the problem. In her paper, the Yale student detailed the basis of global warming and climate change as being:

“driven by unsustainable consumption patterns concentrated among the wealthiest citizens of the wealthiest countries, all of which have already subjected most of this country and the world to deadly temperatures, fire-flood cycles, rising seas, and dying crops”

Violet has not limited her activities to academics. The 19-year-old has used her knowledge of public health and safety to bring nuanced arguments to discussions that influence public policy.

During the debate over whether there should be a ban on wearing masks in public spaces due to their supposed link to an increase in criminal activity, based on the anonymity that masks provide to criminals, Affleck, according to Hola, advocated for the use of masks. Violet Affleck, in a public speech, addressed the LA County Board of Supervisors and pointed out the long-term effects of COVID-19, emphasizing the importance of masks in reducing infections. According to Hola, Violet said:

“One in 10 infections leads to long COVID, which is a devastating neurological and cardiovascular illness that can take away people's ability to work, move, see, and even think.”

Violet Affleck delivered this public speech in July 2024. She was 18 years old at the time.

As per Violet’s mother, Jennifer Garner, her daughter always displayed signs of having a strong personality from childhood. Garner shared an anecdote from Violet’s childhood with The Hollywood Reporter related to when she stood up to paparazzi. Garner shared:

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"She stood up on a chair in a little velvet dress, with her hair a bit back and her glasses on and she didn’t say her R’s right, and she said: ‘We didn’t ask for this. We don’t want these cameras, they’re scary. The men are scary, they knock each other over and it’s hard to feel like a kid when you’re being chased.’”

Her children’s experience with papparazỉ inspired Garner to become a strong advocate for privacy for the children of celebrities.

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