Ben Affleck has found himself at the centre of another viral moment after a video showed him slamming a car door on his wife, Jennifer Lopez, with excessive force. The clip, shared on TikTok, captured the couple approaching their parked vehicle, each holding a coffee cup. Affleck opened the door for Lopez before using his entire body to shut it behind her, prompting mixed reactions online.
Whilst some social media users praised the actor for his chivalrous gesture, others focused on the manner in which he closed the door. One Twitter user commented: "I am screaming, why did he slam the door like that? Ben Affleck is tired." TikTok users also noted his seemingly melancholic demeanour, with one writing: "Chivalry isn’t dead, but it looks like happiness is."
The incident has reignited interest in the "Sad Affleck" memes that first emerged in 2016, when photographs of him looking downcast during a Batman v Superman interview captivated the internet. Since then, any public appearance where he appears glum has sparked a fresh wave of memes. His attendance at the 2023 Grammys led to tweets such as: "however bad of a day you’re having, I promise you’re not as miserable as Ben Affleck at the Grammys right now."
In a Los Angeles Times interview, Affleck admitted that whilst he found the "Sad Affleck" memes amusing, he worried about how they might affect his children when they see them online. "Even the ‘Sad Affleck’ meme – that was funny to me," he said. "But then my kids see it and I think, ‘Oh, are they going to think their dad is fundamentally sad or they have to worry about me?’ That’s really tough."
Affleck, who gained mainstream fame after co-writing and starring in Good Will Hunting alongside Matt Damon in 1997, recently appeared in the biographical sports drama Air, playing Nike CEO Phil Knight. He married Jennifer Lopez in July 2022 after rekindling their early-2000s romance.
