Ben Affleck Sets The Record Straight On His Grammys Experience: 'I Had A Good Time'

Yes, Ben Affleck is fully aware that people thought he looked miserable at the Grammys, but, no, he wasn't having a bad time.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in new interview, the actor addressed all the memes that his and wife Jennifer Lopez's 2023 Grammys appearance produced.

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Asked if he minded being meme'd, Affleck simply said, "No. I had a good time at the Grammys. My wife was going, and I thought, 'Well, there'll be good music. It might be fun.' At movie award shows, it's speeches and, like, sound-mixing webinars. But I thought this would be fun."

He explained the highly meme'd moment, in which host Trevor Noah unexpectedly approached the couple, televising a seemingly uncomfortable Affleck in the process.

"I saw [Trevor Noah approach] and I was like, 'Oh, God.' They were framing us in this shot, but I didn't know they were rolling," Affleck told THR. "I leaned into her and I was like, 'As soon they start rolling, I'm going to slide away from you and leave you sitting next to Trevor.' She goes, 'You better fucking not leave.' That's a husband-and-wife thing."

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Though he enjoyed the event, the Air director wasn't entirely sure who all the performers and nominees were.

"I mean, some of it is, I'm like, 'All right, who is this act?' Like, I don't keep up. My wife does, obviously. And yeah, it is your wife's work event."

The actor—who has previously opened up about his battle with alcoholism and his journey to sobriety—added that he was intrigued by the public's speculation that he had been drinking at the ceremony.

"I've gone to events and been pissed off. I've gone and been bored. I've gone to award shows and been drunk, a bunch. Nobody ever once said I'm drunk," he said. "[But at the Grammys] they were like, 'He's drunk.' And I thought, That's interesting. That raises a whole other thing about whether or not it's wise to acknowledge addiction because there's a lot of compassion, but there is still a tremendous stigma, which is often quite inhibiting. I do think it disincentivises people from making their lives better."

Elsewhere in the interview, Affleck credited Lopez for looking out for him.

When asked why he isn't on Instagram, he replied, "My wife's a genius at that. I don't know if there's anybody who understands Instagram better than her. In fact, she gave me a talk this morning before this interview. She thinks that because of experiences that I've had, I've become very guarded. And she's right. I view these things as land mines, where if you say one wrong thing, your career might be over."

He then revealed further advice Lopez gave him prior to the THR interview.

"So [she] tells me today, 'Relax, be yourself. Have fun. You're actually a fun guy who is real and genuine and you just seem so serious.' Do I seem serious? But as in many things, she's really right," he said. "And she loves me. She's looking out for me. She's trying to help me. So it's like, maybe I ought to fucking listen to her."

This article originally appeared in Harper's BAZAAR US.

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