Another day, another tone-deaf actor.
Ben Affleck seemed to make this apparent during a recent press day with his fellow Justice League cast, when they were all asked by an interviewer at MTV UK which superhero they’d like to one day act alongside in a future film. Women dominated the pleasant conversation — Supergirl and Black Canary are particularly in demand, for instance — until Affleck lustfully comment on the superhero Zatanna’s “fishnets” and then seemed to make an odd and disrespectful joke about Supergirl. “What would you get up to if you had Supergirl joining the team?” the interviewer asked, before Affleck said his response: “Are you following the news at all?” The news, of course, is the onslaught of sexual harassment and assault allegations against various high-powered men in Hollywood. Was Affleck trying to make light of these horrific and harrowing allegations? The Internet sure thinks so.
“The JL cast’s reactions to Ben Affleck dropping a joke about all the sexual assault allegations in Hollywood is like a renaissance painting,” one Twitter user wrote, correctly pointing out how his co-stars, minus Gal Gadot, immediately glared at him when he made the joke. “This is the moment when Ben Affleck made a rape joke … I mean here you can see who is trash and who is not,” another wrote. Added a third, among other tweets: “Ben Affleck is actually making a joke about the recent stories of sexual assault in Hollywood … Nah I’m so shook bc I assume with his mess Warner Bros would be extra careful with interviews but they’re fine with him doing this.”
It should be noted that Affleck was accused last month by actress Hilarie Burton of groping her breast while on TRL many years ago, which he apologized for a few days later on Twitter: “I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize.” He was also accused by makeup artist Annamarie Tendler of groping her at a 2014 Golden Globes party. He did not respond to this allegation, but earlier this month, in an interview with the AP, the actor said he’s “looking at my own behavior and addressing that and making sure I’m part of the solution.”
No word yet on how this joke fits into Affleck’s plan to be part of the solution…
More:__ Hilarie Burton Says She Was Groped by Ben Affleck on ‘TRL’