Controversial Jennifer Garner clip resurfaces

Actress Jennifer Garner is copping a fierce backlash online over a clip from a 2017 chat show that’s resurfaced on social media.

Jennifer Garner in the Netflix series.

Actress Jennifer Garner is copping a fierce backlash online today, accused of racial microaggresions over a clip from a 2017 chat show that’s resurfaced on social media.

The scene in question comes from an episode of comedian Chelsea Handler’s now-defunct Netflix talk show Chelsea. In some episodes of the series, Handler invited celeb friends over for relaxed dinner parties, where they’d discuss various topics on camera.

“Let’s talk about our families first. Where we came from, where our parents came from,” Handler prompts the group in the short clip, as they sit down to dinner.

African-American actress Regina King tells the group that she’s Los Angeles-born, something she’s proud of in a city so many others flock to.

“I’m one of the few people that are born and bred in LA. I think that’s a cool thing, and I wear it on my chest very proudly, because so many people say, ‘Oh, LA is this, and LA is that’ – and I’m like, ‘Well, you’re not from LA, so you don’t really know it.’”

Sitting across the table from her, Garner suddenly interjects with a question: “But do you know where your ancestors are from?”

The question prompts an incredulous answer from King.

“Well, yeah – they were part of the triangle slave trade. From Sierra Leonne, Liberia and Senegal … but my parents are both from the south.”

The minute-long clip of the interaction has been met with a furious reaction as it’s circulated on social media – originally tweeted with the savage caption “oh I see why Ben left her ass,” meaning Garner’s ex-husband Ben Affleck. Many have expressed their anger at Garner interrupting a Black woman talking about her upbringing to ask her where she’s really from.

Regina King speaks about her upbringing.

Jennifer Garner interjects.

“Jennifer Garner definitely gave Regina King that white woman stare as she said she was from Los Angeles. I could tell she was about to be ignorant. Lmao they be thirsty for us to root our origin in slavery with nothing else mentioned or considered,” one person said on Twitter.

“I see Jennifer Garner is one of *those* types of white woman,” said another.

“Jennifer Garner, a white woman from TX, asking an African American woman where her ancestors came from because Regina said she is a LA native is completely racist and disgusting. Regina is better than me. It would have gotten REAL NASTY had she asked me that at this dinner table,” said another.

Jennifer with fellow guest Dan Savage.

However, others who’ve watched the episode in question argued that Garner’s interjection makes more sense in context: It comes from an episode titled ‘My American Experience’, where the guests were encouraged to “discuss their roots, patriotism, religion and modern America’s complexities.”

“I went and started watching this episode and it’s called the American experience and literally everyone is getting asked how did there parents get to America and where they came from,” one Twitter commenter explained.

While the clip has so far been watched more than 13 million times on Twitter, Garner herself has yet to publicly comment on the social media backlash.