Ben Affleck Loves His Massive Back Tattoo, Even If You Don't

Ben Affleck is starting up about his love. No, not the passion he has for his former wife/the mother of his children Jennifer Garner (though he did recently shower her with compliments on the Today show). And not his rumored on-again girlfriend, Lindsay Shookus.


No, today, he's professing his love for the technicolor phoenix that permanently decorates his entire back — and, frankly, he doesn't care whether or not you approve.


The eye-catching tattoo came up while in the actor's appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday (March 14), any time the comedian casually brought up that the work of art "got a lot of attention."


"Not so much positive," Affleck rapidly pointed out. "It's a phoenix..." He continued. "Rising from your ass," DeGeneres added, completing his sentence.





"Yes, it's a phoenix rising from my ass. I was about to mention it symbolizes something really critical to me," he continued, noting that the ink is "meaningful" without divulging any further specifics on mentioned meaning.


And although the public "sentiment ran, you know, against" the look — which is, to be completely clear, a Look — Affleck insisted, "I love my tattoo, I'm quite pleased with it." And for all those naysayers out there, he concluded, "Luckily I'm the one who has it."


Whether or not you are a fan of the artwork, from a publicity standpoint, this back tat has been wonderful for Affleck. It's been keeping his name in non-offensive headlines for over three years right now — distributing fodder not just while in his own interviews, although also for those of anyone connected to him.


The tattoo first made national news in December 2015, once Affleck was spotted with his fresh ink on the set of Live By Night. At the time, People announced that the tattoo was real.


Then, two months later, his one-time fiancée Jennifer Lopez (who right now happens to be someone else's bride-to-be) called out the actor for his bold look while appearing on Watch What occurs Live. “It’s awful! What are you doing?” She mentioned. “His tattoos habitually have also several colors, they shouldn’t be so eye catching. They should be cooler.”


Not long soon after that, Vanity Fair asked Garner for her advice on her ex's post-split body art. "You know what we would mention in my hometown about that? ‘Bless his heart.' A phoenix rising from the ashes. Am I the ashes in this scenario?" Teased the West Virginia native.


all of the negativity at the time must've gotten to him, because it instigated Affleck to lie to Mario Lopez while in a Extra interview, asserting that the phoenix was "fake for a movie."


That quieted the suspicions for a while — up until March 2018, any time paparazzi once again caught him showing off the phoenix while in a beach break while filming Triple Frontier in Hawaii.


Affleck's best friend Matt Damon was then called upon to weigh in, telling The Day-to-day Show's Trevor Noah that "it’s not one man’s job to tell another man what he can do to his back. I support him in all of his artsy expression."


Nevertheless Affleck made sure he had the last word on the matter (at least, for the time being). Any time the New Yorker used the tattoo to question the Oscar winner's state of mind after the tat's excellent resurgence, Affleck took to Twitter to let it be known to all: "I'm doing just fine. Thick skin bolstered by garish tattoos."


So, any further questions?