Do You Remember: When We First Saw Ben Affleck’s Back Tattoo

A phoenix rises from the divorced ashes and a meme is born.

The end of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s second chance romance has been one of the most painfully drawn-out gossip stories of 2024. It seemed too good to be true: lovers reunited after two decades, older and wiser and ready to take a chance. I was rooting for this story, dammit! Now, we’re watching as the inevitable happens and it kind of sucks. I actually feel pretty gross seeing the paparazzi trail Lopez and Affleck (and their kids) and giddily waiting for them to make it official (I also dislike how it’s become part of this “flop era” narrative around Lopez, in particular.) Their joint home is on the market. Ben didn’t go to Jen’s Bridgerton-themed birthday party. She’s still looking great. He’s now got a grey mohawk haircut and is wearing the ultimate symbol of divorced dad energy: A Red Hot Chilli Peppers t-shirt. Both of them have been down this route before, and the last time Affleck went through some sh*t, it resulted in a highly memed piece of body art.