Behold the first cringeworthy moment from Ben Affleck’s sure-to-be-messy “Justice League” press tour.
Ahead of the superhero film’s release on Friday, Affleck has been perilously making the interview rounds with the rest of the cast following a series of scandals.
After publicly condemning producer Harvey Weinstein, Affleck found himself at the center of his own sexual harassment controversy when Hilarie Burton said he grabbed her breast during a 2003 “TRL” interview. He later apologized for “acting inappropriately,” but stayed silent when another woman came forward to say that the actor groped her at a Golden Globes party.
Now, he’s drawing all the wrong kinds of attention for a comment he made in an interview with MTV last week.
When Affleck’s co-star Ray Fisher, who plays Cyborg in the film, was asked what would happen if Supergirl teamed up with Justice League, he took the PR-friendly route, saying, “I think it would create a different dynamic.”
And then Affleck, failing to read the room, blurted out, “You following the news at all?”
Watch a clip from the interview below.
— ً (@stormpiIott) November 13, 2017
While Affleck mentioned he wanted to see more women in the DC cinematic universe seconds before, his comment immediately drew ire on social media.
It’s not entirely clear what the actor meant, but many have interpreted his remark as making light of the recent wave of sexual misconduct allegations in Hollywood.
the jl cast’s reactions to ben affleck dropping a joke about all the sexual assault allegations in hollywood is like a renaissance painting pic.twitter.com/HHWjPxPkt5
— gracelord (@rickdeckards) November 14, 2017
The fact that Ben Affleck has the AUDACITY to make a joke about sexual assault in Hollywood, especially given his track record and the allegations against his brother, is baffling. https://t.co/aXwYnHQT5l
— Jade Budowski (@jadebudowski) November 15, 2017
ben affleck Casually making a joke abt the sexual assault allegations in Hollywood is like Next level trash n i wish ezra wouldve clocked him since he was sitting the closest to him
— ॢ (@hqjimn) November 14, 2017
So Ben Affleck says he wants to be part of the solution and then makes a joke about the sexual assault stories???? Lolololololol ehhh men always say that to be performative, so I don’t really care that he apologized
— nukki. (@auxiliarity) November 14, 2017
ben affleck: i want to learn from my mistakes and be part of the solution!
also ben affleck: makes a joke about sexual harassment for literally no reason
— lindsey (@waverIysearp) November 10, 2017
We are all Ezra Miller.