It started with the Sad Affleck meme. Well before his reunion with Jennifer Lopez, the actor went viral for a 2016 Batman V. Superman interview in which he was seen looked stressed out and unhappy to be there. The moment was memed and subsequent interviews noted how uncomfortable Ben Affleck looked at events. He’s only been more of a focus for the media since reuniting and later marrying JLo, and in recent weeks headlines have ranged from outlets claiming Ben Affleck “slammed” a car door on Jennifer Lopez to them allegedly having a heated argument on the red carpet.
Frankly, it’s BS.
Ben Affleck And JLo: From The Meme To The Car Door To The Lip Syncing Saga
Affleck has been put through it in recent months. He was seen as looking miserable when he attended the Grammys with his wife. Again, the “Sad Affleck” memes rolled around. Most of those memes were in good fun, but it’s not exactly positive press, and it even led to an insider defending what happened at the 2023 Grammys.
More recently, a moment went viral when the paparazzi caught Ben and Jen out about the town and trying to have an innocuous time. In the video, Affleck clearly slams a car door as his wife is trying to quickly get in. If you’ve seen the footage, it seems relatively clear that Affleck was annoyed at the paparazzi following them around. Still headlines called him ‘flustered.” Others claimed he was annoyed at Jen and slamming the car door on The Mother actress’ “face.” Twitter commenters wrote things like, “You can have it all and still be miserable.”
In another recent moment, the two looked as if they were arguing during the red carpet premiere event for The Mother.
To be fair, the moment did look tense, but then a lip reader was employed to weigh in on what the two were talking about. It turns out, they were clearly supporting one another during the pictures and commenting things like:
- Ben Affleck: ‘Don't worry babe.'
- JLo: 'Come close to me.’
It seems clear that Affleck does not enjoy the celebrity faction of his job, but as long as he’s not throwing punches, I don’t think he owes it to the public or the photographers to play nice. In fact, he’s been open and honest that he’s willing to play ball with the press... as long as the media is staying out of his personal life.
Ben Affleck Has Admitted He’s Guarded About What He Says
The actor will occasionally speak out about his wife or his ex-wife, but for the most part is fairly private about his personal life. He did admit in an interview earlier in 2023 that he views interactions with the media and on social as “land mines.”
My wife’s a genius at that. I don’t know if there’s anybody who understands Instagram better than her. In fact, she gave me a talk this morning before this interview. She thinks that because of experiences that I’ve had, I’ve become very guarded. And she’s right. I view these things as land mines, where if you say one wrong thing, your career might be over. I had a really painful experience where I did an interview where I was really vulnerable, and the entire pickup was something that was not only not right, it was actually the opposite of what I meant.
The latter thing he was talking about was an interview he previously did with the New York Post in which he spoke about ex Jennifer Garner and ultimately ended up saying something that was taken out of context. The comment led people to think he blamed his ex for the role alcohol played in his life. It was clear from the later interview what happened stuck with him, as he straight up said he still felt the experience was "painful."
More recently he mentioned to ET that having to deal with the media is “not [his] favorite,” but that he always tries to keep in mind that movies are “collaborative” and part of the process of him being lucky enough to be in the business is the promotion portion. He got more candid, noting:
In my life, I’ve been through a lot of different kinds of experiences with the press. It’s just like a function of what you do, right? Someone gives you the opportunity to make a movie, you’re very lucky and it’s your responsibility to get out there and sell it. Make people aware of it. It’s not my favorite part of the job. It’s not what I would choose to do. But it is a responsibility of mine that I take seriously. You have to promote this work.
It seems fairly obvious that Affleck isn’t having issues with Lopez, and is instead disenchanted with the fact he’s followed around 24/7 and gets few breathers from being a celebrity. But that’s just not the narrative.
Jennifer Garner Once Spoke About What Being In An A-List Relationship Is Like, And It Fits Ben And JLo Too
Ben Affleck and JLo are happily married, but the narrative on celebrity marriages frequently changes over time. Or as Affleck noted previously, couples end up having “lots of different experiences” with the press over the cycle of a relationship. In fact, his ex Jennifer Garner once spoke to PBS about the complications between real-life actors and how certain storylines play out in the media.
I think there's something about seeing yourselves reflected in news of some kind, whether it's true or not. If it's true and you are starting to be serious with someone and they start saying, 'Well, when are they gonna be engaged?,’ it's almost like you just want to get there so that you can complete that and just maybe it will die down for a second. You're always kind of chasing peace, and because it's already been in print it feels like it's a done deal already, whatever it is... And then it's immediately, 'Trouble in paradise.' And it becomes almost a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Meanwhile, Lopez was candid about the “brutal” way she and Ben Affleck were treated by the gawkers the first time around. The same cycle sort of seems to be happening right now, despite Ben Affleck defending his “Sad Affleck” face and noting he has a “very unhappy-looking resting face.”
It’s nonsense.
The first time around, the couple didn’t stick things out, but this time it seems like they’re making a real go of it. Now, if they could only decide on a house…
