Ben Affleck didn’t show up to church yesterday. It was just Jennifer Garner in gray slacks, a black short sleeve t-shirt and pointy loafers with their kids. Last week Ben was in New York visiting his girlfriend, Lindsay Shookus, who was busy at work on Saturday Night Live. (Lindsay and Ben stepped out together last Wednesday and you can see those photos on US Magazine. They’re exclusives so we don’t have access to them.) Ben was seen flying out of JFK the next day, November 9, so he presumably was in LA over the weekend. He’s definitely been doing the press rounds for Justice League as there are a bunch of new interviews with him. Given the current climate in Hollywood and the big question mark over Ben’s future as Batman, it doesn’t seem like the best idea to put him front and center for promotion but he has been. In fact Ben was asked point blank if he would continue to play Batman and it sounded like he shrugged. In a brief interview segment with ET, which is below, Jason Momoa pitches himself to host SNL because he never has and really wants a chance. He’s surely hoping Ben will put a word in with his girlfriend. The interviewer then quickly changes the subject and asks Ben if he’ll be playing Batman a total of five times, which would make two more additional movies, and he’s like “I don’t know.” Here’s a transcript of that part, and the writer at Bleeding Cool added all the commentary, which was cute so I left it in.
Wright: How many times have you played Batman now? Three?
Affleck (looking tired): Well, if you count Suicide Squad, it’s three, yeah. (exhales heavily)
Wright: You think that’s gonna be a five-timer at least?
Affleck: (inhales deeply) I don’t know about that. (sighs heavily) We’ll see what the future holds.
[Transcript via BleedingCool.com]
Advance reviews for Justice League, which is out this week, are generally positive. That’s a good thing for a DC vehicle as they tend to be less well received than Marvel’s films, with the notable exception of Wonder Woman. A lot of money and effort was spent on reshoots with new director Joss Whedon, and it may have paid off. Critics say JL has more humor than Suicide Squad or Batman vs. Superman and that it’s a definite improvement over both.
Do you think Ben is waiting for the other shoe to drop? So far we’ve heard he’s groped three women at least. Do you think he’s worried that more women are going to come out with receipts? Do you think his team has been frantically trying to suppress all that behind the scenes? Whose bright idea was the US Weekly cover this week? That’s the one where Garner still stands by him, he’s sober yet again after rehab and his estranged wife’s goodness is rubbing off on him still, despite the fact that he’s openly dating someone else. It doesn’t seem like a great PR strategy for this film, but they’re trying to paint him as a sympathetic character I guess. It’s like WB doesn’t know yet if they’re going to keep him on and Ben is so ambivalent that he’s unsure too. At least he took Kevin Smith’s lead and is donating his Weinstein residuals.
Here’s that interview with Ben saying he doesn’t know how often he’ll be playing Batman.
photos credit: Pacific Coast News and Backgrid
“We’ll see what the future holds” basically means that the studio will sit back and see how well received he is in Justice League and how effective his PR “No, I’m super serious about rehab you guys, I’m even going to church with the ex and I got a rescue puppy” tour is on his image. It will probably help if he stops acting like taking over the Batman role is ruining his life.
Lol yikes. He’s either waiting to be implicated more, was already dropped or realizes that pap walks with his kids and a puppy does not change the narrative.
How about no? I’ve always thought this was a bad casting choice and a huge step down from Christian Bale, just like Jared Leto was a step down from Heath Ledger. It’s not that they aren’t good actors, just miscast here.
Anyway, Been Affleck needs a break to get his life together.
What happened to his assults? And when is Jared Leto going to be called out, cos it’s an open secret that he tortures women
Jared Leto boggles the head! It’s literally one those “everyone knows” cases. I‘m an ex fan because of the shit I’ve seen. Ever heard about Ian Watkins?
Diana
Yes, it’s the same story except Watkins got caught eventually. But i think Leto is too powerful. He has someone behind him, otherwise, why is everything being dismissed?
Yeah Leto clearly has some support but there are signs he’s nervous. We will see. Oh and that idea of him leading another Tron movie for Disney? Dead I would assume, unless Disney is beyond stupid. Let’s see what happens with the Joker. WB has been burned badly by the Ratner issues. They will be skittish as hell moving forward.
He’s out. They just don’t want to discuss it while trying to promote the current movie with him in it as Batman. The next movie is a trilogy, not just one standalone Batman movie, but a trilogy. Matt has no intention on using Ben. And Ben really had no interest in being tied up with Batman for that many years, three more movies, especially when he was out as co-writer. Ben was interested in a standalone Batman back when he had control, not committing to three more movies. And Matt is not interested in Ben, at his age (looking a bloated mess for this whole year) with all of his other problems anyway.
They just don’t want that to become the story, Ben out, while trying to promote Justice League. And that’s all the story would be about. It’s common sense why they don’t discuss it until Justice League is out. Their goal is to promote JL.
Yeah this is my impression too. They want a trilogy and likely a younger actor. Plus the way these projects are rushed through now he’d basically be consumed by Batman for the foreseeable future. If (IF) he is serious about staying healthy he’s going to want to focus on his own projects. I think he was out of Batman the minute he was no longer directing it.
No your won’t. Just put it down.
I thought the thing with Jason Momoa wanting nothing more than to host SNL –and staring pointedly at Ben the entire time– was funny. Ben then very casually says something like, “you should have told me!!” I’m sure Ben would have put in a good word with LS, but I am surprised that Jason’s agent couldn’t get him into the SNL schedule this year. No doubt he’ll do it next year for Aquaman.
‘Pointy loafers’ is a very kind and generous way to describe Garner’s manly clodhoppers.
The 90s are back in a big, bad way…especially in the shoe department. Selena Gomez has been sporting shoes like these though & they look adorable on her.
just go, ben.
can we get a batman who’s in shape and doesn’t actually touch women without their consent? thanks.
He must be so relieved when he can go home and take off his girdle. He looks so uncomfortable.
He is contracted for a third film after JL (they don’t count the Suicide Squad cameo) so if they want another actor for Batman, they’ll have to buy BA out of his contract. He’ll get paid either way. I don’t think he really wants to be associated with these films anymore anyway. I think he’d love to play the character in movies that are high-quality and these just weren’t it. I think he’ll be relieved to be done with them and the scrutiny that comes with it all. He has nothing concrete on his schedule after this so I imagine he’ll lay low with his gf while the tabloid stuff finally peters out.
him and his hGH boob grabbing bs can move along. how about hiring a 35yo, chiseled, dark eyed actor instead if keeping Old man that was poorly casted?
I’m pretty sure he’s out, though I’m sure he’ll still get paid. He’s got too many problems for the studio to want him,imo. Hence the promotion where he looks very over it.
I know I’ll get killed for this, but I’m just really not putting Ben Affleck, or a few others for that matter, into the predator category. Yeah, ignorant, entitled, obnoxious, bad behavior that’s unacceptable and absolutely needs to change throughout every industry. But, predator? Um, no – not from what we know at this point. There’s a lot of bad behavior in the world, lots of it, but I’m not going down the slope of putting everyone into the exact same bucket. Ben was a drunk a-hole in the TRL and Canadian TV interviews, but I do believe there’s a difference between that and luring someone to a private location where they are raped or masturbated in front of, etc. And this whole idea of forcing the Canadian reporter to be a victim when she herself says she wasn’t is funny to me. This is what we’ve come to now. We will tell other women that they’re a victim even when don’t feel they were. You will be a victim woman! You will fit into my sisterhood narrative whether you like it or not! And of course there’s the trending, “Aw, poor woman, she’s not even woke enough to know she’s a victim.” It may come as a surprise, but I’ve known plenty of women who actually like to engage in the same kind of behavior with men as the Canadian reporter. Are we now saying this isn’t ok? Are they not intelligent enough to make their own decisions? Are we shaming them?
I’m just waiting for people to start looking at the music industry. Bands. Underage groupies. Drugs/alcohol. There’s most definitely a wealth of predators there too.
You keep forgetting the makeup artist who he assaulted. Do you think Ben grabbed her butt and put his fingered her at a party with put her permission. Do you still think that not the same as masturbated in front of a will participate.
http://www.celebitchy.com/553213/ben_affleck_grabbed_a_makeup_artists_butt_in_2014_will_he_apologize_for_that_too/
I also think you need to read Burton tweet conversation that was posted and. Here what Burton tweeted after that she posted a with the video clip of the incident and wrote “Girls. I’m so impressed with you brave ones. I had to laugh back then so I wouldn’t cry. Sending love.”
Is that what you call a willing participant?
http://www.celebitchy.com/553038/ben_affleck_called_out_by_rose_mcgowan_for_knowing_about_harvey_weinstein/
( You keep forgetting the makeup artist who he assaulted. Do you think Ben grabbed her butt and put his fingered her at a party with put her permission. Do you still think that not the same as masturbated in front of a will participate.)
Sorry autocorrect.
I ment without her permission and unwilling participate.
Jojo is a long time faithful Ben stan so will find a way to minimize any negatives. She calls him out seemingly, but still manages to deflect blame away from him in the end.
Of course I don’t think the makeup artist was a willing participant. I also read the Burton statement. Both of those were totally inappropriate – point blank. I’m simply saying I’m not going to jump on this new bandwagon of calling anyone and everyone who did something lewd or non-consensual a predator. In terms of the two public TV incidents with Ben, both of them took place before he married Garner. (I’m not saying she’s relevant here except to show how people’s perspectives are changing – and rightly so!) Why did she marry this “predator”? I’m sure, like most of the world at that time, she viewed them as obnoxious “bad boy” behavior, but I’d be willing to bet she didn’t view him as a “predator” – hence marrying him and having 3 children over 10 years. And she didn’t divorce him for being a “predator” either. She divorced him because of Lindsay.
For some of these men, they’re primarily entitled a-holes who are now hopefully finally seeing that they don’t have any license whatsoever to engage with women in this way. But I’m not dropping every one of them into the “predator” bucket.
If I adopted the term “predator” for some of the behavior being called out now, I’d be labeling most of the guys I went to high school and college with. Do I think they were a-holes at times? Absolutely. But they weren’t predators. Many of them today realize they were a-holes back then. Sorry, just MO. This is a culture that is pervasive and needs to change, but I’m not sure that ruining the lives of every man who was ever inappropriate is the answer. It’s going to need to change starting with young kids, parents, schools up to workplaces, etc.
@Deb – That’s your “go to” response, that I’m a Ben fan. And I can see why. It’s the easiest response to what I said. Unfortunately, it’s not true. My opinion on this extends to many others. But I get it. There’s zero tolerance for listening, reason or logic. It’s all about being part of the flame throwing masses.
Have I ever said that before? Don’t recall doing so. But having read many posts by you, you consistently make excuses, minimize Ben’s poor behavior or deflect to someone else as sharing the blame. That is simply an observation. You clearly believe in what you say and sharing thoughts and opinions is the point, but it is what it is.
Definition of sexual predator
:a person who has committed a sexually violent offense and especially one who is likely to commit more sexual offenses.
His assult on Burton when she was 18 in the 90’s the makeup artist assault was in 2014 and that is just the ones we know of. Ben is a sexual predator, He didn’t go after every women he came across he preyed after certain women with less power.
I see the point you’re trying to make, but you’re making a huge leap. You don’t know who he “didn’t” go after, and you’re speculating that there are more. That’s fine – it’s your right.
Is it really a huge leap though? From the victims that spoken out we can see a pattern they were all in a room with others present when they were assulted, they were all less powerful then him and so on. Jen Statsky who was at the Golden globes 2014 after party said that Ben assulted her friends also. So we do know that their are other victims.
Statsky’s friends have never actually come forward. Until they do it is just hearsay. The fact is, Affleck apologized to Burton and that was forgiven and forgotten by all involved parties. He’s ignored the Tendler thing and she’s never pressed the issue or spoken of it outside of twitter. His actions pale in comparison to what others have been accused of, so he’s been pushed to the background. That’s how it works. Until more women come forward, you can’t assume that he’s guilty of things that he hasn’t been accused of. That’s a witch hunt.
It’s not a witch hunt I’m not assuming he is guilty of thinhg he is guilty of assault.
Was it a witch hunt with Harvey, Kevin S, Uncle Terry, Louis C.K., Bill Cosby, Singer, Cassy Affleck, Jared L, George W Bush Sr and so on.
Is it a whitch hunt with Trump or what about Roy Moore ?
Forgiving some doesn’t mean it’s forgotten. Ashlet Judd forgave Harvey, but she hasn’t forgotten what he did.
We aren’t talking about ANY of those other men. We are talking about Ben Affleck only, or at least I am. You are trying to put him in Harvey Weinstein’s league when that clearly isn’t the case. There are degrees to sexual harassment and assault. Ben Affleck has not been accused of rape. There were two incidents: one was addressed, the other wasn’t. It is possible that it’s not true, you know. Someone grabs your butt in a crowd and you think it’s one person when someone else is guilty. Maybe he doesn’t want to call Tendler a liar in public.
Something tells me that if Ben were still with Jennifer Garner, a lot more complainers would be defending him on this point. But he’s not, so naturally they try to make him out to be the worst person EVER, even worse than Weinstein and Spacey put together, etc etc. Whatever makes you feel better, I guess. I doubt very much Affleck cares.
I never said what he did was on the same level as Harvey. What I was referring to is your comment of calling it a witch hunt. There have been stories and rumors about each of these men for years, so was it a witch hunt for people to have call them out for years?
Really now your saying Tendler is a liar and she doesn’t know who assaulted her?
No one ever said he was worse than the men like Harvey or Kevin. What people are doing is not giving him a pass just because his actions are not on their level.
This has nothing to do with Jen so why bring her up? Ben dose cares what people are saying about him that why we been using his ex and kids for a photo op, the rehab stories and more. Even the Washington Post has called out his obvious PR stunts.
@Rose – I don’t want to speak for her, but my impression of what Tina said related to “witch hunt” is that she wasn’t referring to “the stories about each of these men for years.” She was referring specifically to Affleck and the fact that if you’re going to simply speculate that there are more women instead of relying only on the facts we already know about him, then that’s a witch hunt.
On my part, all I’m saying is I’m not going to call him a “predator.” I’m not saying the things he did weren’t inappropriate. They were. (Not putting Canadian reporter into this category though. Don’t really feel it’s my place to tell another woman that she’s a victim whether she likes it or not.) He needs to do a lot of soul searching, repair work and apologies where necessary –
like so many other men in Hwood, comedy, music, high schools, colleges, workplaces. But I’m just not going to apply the term predator to every single person and level of infraction. I don’t think it’s that simple, or even helpful to the overall cause, and I’m really not into buzzwords.
Fact is if she or you thinks it’s a witch hunt for Ben then its witch hunt for all the men I’ve listed. We’ve been “speculating” about all them for years without the names of the victims to put to the stories that have been around for years.
You can’t think it’s a witch hunt when it comes to Ben, but feel it’s not one when people do the same thing to the other men. For Example we know Harvey Weinstein assaulted and rape actresses and models, we also know that colleges would not let female student interns at his company, and he most likely did the same to his female employees. Is it a witch hunt to for me or another to say that because those women have not spoken up.
You don’t what to call Ben a predator fine, but he is one by the definition of the word. Just like Chelsea Handler who has used radial slurs before is a racist. It doesn’t matter that she has dated a black man or has friends with black kids. It doesn’t matter that other people have said worst things, hurt others because of their race or her fans saying she not one.
Every single time Jojo comments on Ben Affleck behaving like Ben Affleck her entire argument is predicated on ‘Ben Affleck is such and such, BUT’. She’s the biggest Ben Affleck apologist out there.
Very good argument, I’ll give you that Neens.