Ben Affleck has once again landed in a puddle. The Batman star was subjected to allegations in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein fiasco and was accused of groping actress Hilarie Burton’s breasts way back in 2003 on TRL. Despite his apology, the speed with which allegations are coming up, the subject is becoming a raw nerve, especially when you are talking about someone whose own behavior is being questioned. That’s the reason why a lot of people are furious with Affleck right now after seeing him crack a sexual harassment joke which according to a lot of people was in poor taste.
The latest incident happened when Justice League cast was being interviewed by MTV. In response to the question about who else would they like to see on the team, Ben Affleck named Black Canary, stating that they could do with more women on the team. That’s when Katana’s name cropped up. Henry Cavill named Supergirl. The interviewer then questioned as what would they “get up to” if Supergirl became a part of the team. Ray Fisher aka Cyborg in the movie, replied, “it would create a different dynamic.” Then Ben Affleck said in a misguided light-hearted tone.
“You following the news at all?”
Although he didn’t say it in clear terms, we can see that Ben Affleck hinted towards the sexual harassment claims being levied against the Hollywood men and seemed to imply that having Supergirl or any other pretty superwoman on the team would mean trouble. He joked, but, it was a bad joke. This is how a fan responded on Twitter.
“Ben Affleck casually making a joke about the sexual assault allegations in Hollywood is like Next level trash, and I wish Ezra would’ve clocked him since he was sitting the closest to him.”
The interview came out a week back, but, it took a while for fans to grasp the joke. Jason Momoa, who plays Aquaman in the film was also referenced for having made a rape joke in 2011. He has since apologized, however, another fan in a now-deleted tweet shamed people for ignoring Ben Affleck’s case while Momoa had faced a lot of flak for his joke.
“Why has Jason Momoa been called out so much for a sexual assault joke from years ago that he apologized for back then than Ben Affleck has for making one like a few days ago?”
A couple of days after the interview went online, Supergirl producer Andrew Kreisberg faced sexual harassment allegations by a lot of men and women working on the Arrowverse shows at The CW. He has been suspended, and although, Affleck’s joke was before Kreisberg related allegations came out, the timing is remarkable.
Ben Affleck’s conduct was also questioned when a 2004 video showing him acting weird toward Anne-Marie Losique came out. However, Losique had later told The Wrap that the behavior was “all for the cameras.” Yet, this joke didn’t lighten up the mood for Affleck. Check out more social media responses and the video courtesy Twitter user Storm Pilott.
