Ben Affleck claps back at fat-shaming article

Ben Affleck is doing just fine, thank you very much. Following this week’s New Yorker article titled “The Great Sadness of Ben Affleck,” the actor wants the publication (and the world) to know there’s nothing sad here.

The 800-word article was written after paparazzi photos of Affleck, 45, zeroed in on his giant back tattoo on the beach in Honolulu, where he’s filming the Netflix movie Triple Frontier. The writer of the post, Naomi Fry, remarked on the prominence of his waist line, describing these pictures as one of several “despondent” shots of Affleck since he and Jennifer Garner split in 2016.

“In one image, the actor stands alone, looking off into the middle distance. His gut is pooching outward in a way that, in a more enlightened country like, say, France, would perhaps be considered virile, not unlike the lusty Gérard Depardieu in his prime but, in fitness-fascist America, tends to read as Homer Simpsonesque,” Fry wrote in the post. “A blue-gray towel is wrapped protectively around his midsection — recalling a shy teen at the local pool.”

The article prompted backlash on social media, with the Wrap even wondering if the New Yorker called Ben Affleck fat. That’s certainly how many readers took it, and they were quick to point out how the “mean-spirited” post failed to mention his struggle with alcohol addiction.

There’s one person who is loving Affleck’s thick skin and back tattoo, and that’s his current girlfriend, Lindsay Shookus.

The Saturday Night Live producer, 37, is visiting her beau on location in Hawaii, and the two were photographed kayaking in the ocean. And there’s nothing sad about kayaking!

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