When Jennifer Garner Landed Herself in a Controversy for Asking Regina King About Her Ancestors

Jennifer Garner, who mostly dodged controversies, landed herself in one after asking an inappropriate question to Regina King. The 13 Going On 30 actress appeared on Chelsea Handler's Dinner Party: My American Experience in August 2023 when she picked a fight with King's fans for asking, "Where her [Regina's] ancestors are from," attracting criticism on social media. 

A rather aggressive fan @falisha_knight on X, formerly Twitter, slammed Garner, "I would've hit her back with, 'Where are YOURS from, colonizer.'" @SympleeJas called out, "That smug a** look on #JenniferGarner's face when she fixed her thin pale ass lips to ask #ReginaKing about her ancestry like we weren't stolen…" Meanwhile, @pillsnshots dragged ex-husband Affleck into the debate, "#JenniferGarner do I need to check yo ahh about #ReginaKing..that's y #benaffleck couldn't wait to go back to the better Jennifer." 

More critical voices amplified against Garner like @onlyheavenknow commented, "#jennifergarner we ain't forget what you did to our good sis #reginaking." But among them were a few rational people like @internationalm, who argued, "#jennifergarner asking #reginaking where her 'ancestors came from' - YES, it was ignorant. But it's NOT evil. It's just ignorance. It's a teachable moment." 

@Call_me_kitt explained, "Ummm… is it just me, or do people not realize that her (Jen's) question was valid in a sense? There are dark-skinned Hispanics and Latinos. Are we saying Regina couldn't be Caribbean?? Hatian or Dominican??" 

The now-52-year-old actress was having dinner with other guests present at the table when Handler, the host, asked everyone to tell others about where they grew up. The Oscar winner proudly revealed, "I grew up here in L.A., born and bred, one of the few people that are born and bred in L.A. It's...uh, I think, a very cool thing And I kind of wear it on my chest very proudly because so many people say, 'Oh, L.A. is this and L.A. is that,' and I'm like, well, you're not from L.A., so you don't really know it." 

Garner interjected, "But do you know where your ancestors are from?" King responded, "Well, yeah. They were part of the triangle slave trade. From Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Senegal, but my parents are both from the South. To this day I'm totally grateful that my mom left. My mom was like, 'I'm getting out of this b----,' and she came to L.A," per OK! Magazine. 

The American actress and director, King, rose to fame in 1985 with the NBC sitcom 227 in the role of Brenda Jenkins. Her acting prowess impressed people, including her other successful films like the 1991 release Boyz In The Hood, Poetic Justice in 1993, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous in 2005, Ray in 2004, and The Harder They Fall in 2021, as per PEOPLE.

In 2019, she received her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in If Beale Street Could Talk. Alongside this, she has also earned four Emmys, including, consecutive wins in 2015 and 2016 for her performance on the American Crime anthology series.