Ben Affleck explains awkward viral Grammys moment with J. Lo: 'I didn't know they were rolling'
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Ben Affleck insists he had a good time at the 2023 Grammys.
The heavily memed actor went viral last month when he accompanied his wife, Jennifer Lopez, to the ceremony, with viewers noting that he looked miserable and dejected and tabloids overanalyzing what looked like a tense back-and-forth between the two during a cellphone bit with host Trevor Noah.
Now Affleck has provided some context to the moment in a new interview, chalking it up to a typical marital exchange.
"I saw [Noah approach] and I was like, 'Oh, God,'" Affleck told The Hollywood Reporter. "They were framing us in this shot, but I didn't know they were rolling. I leaned into her and I was like, 'As soon as they start rolling, I'm going to slide away from you and leave you sitting next to Trevor.' She goes, 'You better f---ing not leave.' That's a husband-and-wife thing."
Despite what the memes might suggest, he added, "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."
Affleck also called the assumption that he was drunk during the show inhibiting.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Trevor Noah, Jennifer Lopez, and Ben Affleck at the 2023 Grammys
"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," he said. "Nobody ever once said I'm drunk. [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 disincentivizes people from making their lives better."
An EW editor who attended the Grammys ceremony observed that Affleck wasn't as miserable as he seemed on TV, noting that he mixed and mingled with attendees, including fellow thespian Adrien Brody and music royalty Beyoncé and Jay-Z during commercial breaks.
"He definitely gravitated toward the other actors in the room the most — that seemed to be where he was the most comfortable," our editor said. "But he was generally having a good time. He seemed a little out of his element during the performances, but we've all seen that dad at the concert who doesn't know exactly what to do with himself."
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