Ben Affleck's reality checked his son who wanted $6,000 sneakers: 'I have the money — you're broke'

• Rich people often fear their kids will grow up to be spoiled, entitled, and ungrateful.
• Ben Affleck said he keeps his teenager grounded by reminding him: "I have the money, you're broke."
• Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Tucker, and Warren Buffett have echoed that sentiment.

Many wealthy people wrestle with how to avoid raising spoiled, entitled brats. When Ben Affleck's 13-year-old son, Samuel, showed interest in a pair of $6,000 sneakers, the "Air" actor used a classic line to give him a reality check.

"You like those because they're expensive," the movie star said as Samuel admired a pair of Dior Air Jordan 1 shoes at the Got Sole sneaker convention earlier this month. The comments surfaced in a video posted to the Got Sole Instagram account.

When his son protested that he's always liked how they look, Affleck quipped, "That's a lot of lawns you gotta mow there."

The "Gone Girl" lead and "Argo" director said in an "Access Hollywood" interview this week that telling someone they'll need to mow a lawn means "all of a sudden they don't want those shoes anymore."

"There's always some grift why I need to be buying," Affleck continued. "I'm like, bruh, you do not need $1,000 shoes. He's like, 'We have the money.' I'm like, 'I have the money — you're broke.'"

Mine, not yours

The two-time Oscar winner is the latest celebrity to issue a reminder that their vast fortunes belong to them, and not their children. They typically want to instill in their kids a work ethic and drive to earn what they want in life. They don't want them to be lazy, not appreciate the value of money, and take it for granted that whatever they want will be given to them.

Along similar lines, Warren Buffett wrote last year that "hugely wealthy parents should leave their children enough so they can do anything but not enough that they can do nothing."

Basketball icon Shaquille O'Neal said on the "Earn Your Leisure" podcast in 2021 that he frequently tells his kids, "We ain't rich. I'm rich."

The former Los Angeles Lakers center added that if one of them wants him to invest in a business, they have to present it to him and he'll decide if it makes financial sense: "I'm not giving you nothing."

Similarly, comedy legend Jerry Seinfeld told Kevin Hart during a "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" episode that if his children ask him if they're rich, he replies, "I am, you're not."

"Rush Hour" star and comedian Chris Tucker made a similar joke in his "Chris Tucker Live" standup special for Netflix in 2015. He quipped that his family members quit their jobs after learning he was making millions of dollars a year, and mimicked them chanting, "We rich! We rich! We ain't gotta do shit!"

Tucker's response was, "Y'all ain't rich, I'm rich. Y'all better get your jobs back before it's too late."

The pointed reminder about who makes the money in a family dates back at least three decades to "The Cosby Show."

"None of this would have happened if we weren't so rich," complains Vanessa Huxtable in one episode.

"Let me get something straight, okay," her father says. "Your mother and I are rich. You have nothing."

Affleck riffed on a timeless reminder with a rich history to check his son's privilege and keep him grounded. Whether it will work is another question.