Violet Affleck Details Arguing with Mom Jen Garner in a Hotel as Their Palisades Neighborhood Burned Down
The Yale University freshman recalled her experience with the 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires in an academic research paper for the school’s Global Health Review
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s eldest child, Violet Affleck, published an academic research paper in Yale University’s Global Health Review
The Sunday, May 18, paper included how she found herself shocked by her own family’s misunderstanding of the ongoing climate crisis
The college student also drew comparisons between the public health protocols during both the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic
Violet Affleck continues to use her voice to find solutions for public health.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s eldest child is currently a freshman at Yale University and published an academic research paper in the school’s Global Health Review on Sunday, May 18.
Violet, 19, who has been outspoken about public health and the COVID-19 pandemic, recalled her experience of living through the Los Angeles wildfires that devastated the Pacific Palisades in January. The student explained that, along with finding similarities between the response to the wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic, she found that she and her mother had different interpretations of the dangerous situation.
“I spent the January fires in Los Angeles arguing with my mother in a hotel room,” she explained. Garner, 53, was “shell-shocked, astonished at the scale of destruction,” Violet wrote. Despite that, Violet was confused by her mother’s reaction. “As a lifelong Angelena and climate-literate member of generation Z, my question had not been whether the Palisades would burn but when.”
She also noted that the miscommunication wasn’t just between her and her mother, but with her younger brother, Samuel, 13, as well.
“‘Did global warming have to do with the speed of the wind?’ ” she recalled Samuel asking. She continued, “Hopefully, most of us understand the climate crisis better than my little brother.”
Garner and the Oscar winner, 52, who were married from 2005 to 2018, share three children: Violet, 16-year-old Seraphina and Samuel.
Violet concluded her paper by comparing public health protocols administered during climate disasters and airborne disease transmission. She also argued that climate scientists should recognize the “methods and the political commitments” that COVID-conscious and disabled people have made.
Before her college career, Violet appeared at a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting in July 2024 to discuss COVID-19 precautionary measures. During the public comment section, Violet called to keep mask bans at bay, likely in response to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass discussing in June the possibility of creating a mask ban that particularly targeting protesters, according to The Guardian.
She also opened up about a private health matter she faced five years earlier: a post-viral condition.
Ben Affleck (L) and Jennifer Garner attend the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014 in West Hollywood, California
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Garner has continuously celebrated how her daughter is a “self-starter.” And in a November 2023 Live with Kelly and Mark appearance, she said, “I’m proud of her no matter what.”
Earlier that year, in April 2023, Garner spoke about parenthood to PEOPLE. “I mean, I’m learning as much from them, or more from them, than they’ll ever learn from me,” the actress shared.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s New 7th Anniversary Photo Captured During ‘Sunset’ Walk at Home
It’s “Meghan and Harry in their natural element, sharing a beautiful moment together,” photographer Jake Rosenberg tells PEOPLE
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are all smiles in a romantic new photo released in celebration of their seventh wedding anniversary.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex marked the milestone on May 19, with Meghan’s lifestyle brand, As ever, sharing a never-before-seen image of the couple taken by photographer Jake Rosenberg.
The black-and-white photo, captured in March 2024, shows Meghan, 43, and Harry, 40, walking hand-in-hand outside their Montecito, California home, where they live with their two children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 3. Meghan rests a hand on Harry’s shoulder as they exchange a loving look.
“It was a beautiful mid-March evening in Montecito,” Rosenberg tells PEOPLE. “Anticipating the shoot day ahead, we took a quiet walk through the residence just after sunset where I captured this moment of Meghan and Harry in their natural element, sharing a beautiful moment together.”
A longtime friend of Meghan’s, Rosenberg photographed her for her brand and Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, as well as the images featured in her March 2025 PEOPLE exclusive interview.
Reflecting on more than a decade of friendship, Rosenberg previously told PEOPLE that it’s been a “wild journey” watching Meghan evolve both personally and professionally.
This spring has been especially busy for the Duchess of Sussex, who debuted three major projects: her Netflix series With Love, Meghan, the launch of her As ever brand, and her Confessions of a Female Founder podcast with Lemonada Media.
Rosenberg said Meghan’s latest chapter — “getting back to her roots” — “feels like the good old days.”
“Shooting with Meghan, it just feels like we’re two friends hanging out, you know?” he told PEOPLE. “It doesn’t feel like this giant production, and there are all these different people weighing in. It’s just a really nice moment for us to have together to capture authentic, genuine moments.”
Rosenberg’s intimate portrait of Prince Harry and Meghan was shared by As ever on Instagram on May 19, accompanied by an anniversary message.
“Sometimes two is better than one. Wishing a very happy anniversary to our founder @meghan and her husband Prince Harry,” it read.
Rosenberg’s photo of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at home appeared as the second image in the set. The first, a color shot, featured the twin palm trees at their Montecito property — the same trees Meghan once said were a major draw when she and Harry first discovered the home while house hunting.
“One of the first things my husband saw when we walked around the house was those two palm trees. See how they’re connected at the bottom? He goes, “‘My love, it’s us,’ ” she told The Cut in 2022.
“And now, every day when Archie goes by us, he says, ‘Hi, Momma. Hi, Papa,’ ” she added.
The Duchess of Sussex later incorporated a palm tree into the meaningful logo of her As ever brand in a tribute to her family’s California home.