Ben Affleck has come under fire over an interview he gave in which he appeared to make light of the sexual harassment allegations that have dominated the entertainment news headlines lately.
The actor is currently starring as Batman in ‘Justice League’, and was promoting the film alongside his co-stars on MTV when they were asked whether he’d like to see any other superheroes join the squad.
Ben got things going by saying they needed “more women”, naming Black Canary as his choice, while Henry Cavill said he’d like his Superman character to be joined by his female counterpart, Supergirl.
Cyborg actor Ray Fisher then chose comic book magician Zatanna as his dream addition, to which Ben suggested this was due to her “fishnets”, after which the interviewer asked: “What would you get up to if you had, like, Supergirl… joining the team?”
Interrupting his co-stars, Ben joked: “Are you following the news at all?”
And yeah, the rest of the cast’s faces pretty much say it all:
Ben has since been heavily criticised on social media for appearing to make light of such a serious issue, which has been a prevalent topic of conversation ever since accusations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein first came to light.
I am over this. Sorry but #Batman deserves better than Ben Affleck because Bruce would never make a low-blow rape joke like that. #JusticeLeague
November 15, 2017
omg ben affleck made a rape joke during justice league promo pic.twitter.com/EBGafXv1BN
You know what? Fuck ben affleck. I tried to give him a second chance but he is the embodiment of privilege & hypocrisy of people with power. He STILL thinks it’s NORMAL to joke about sexual assault. Because he hasn’t suffered the consequences. It pains to say- HE IS NOT MY BATMAN
November 14, 2017
ben affleck: i want to learn from my mistakes and be part of the solution! also ben affleck: makes a joke about sexual harassment for literally no reason
Ben Affleck is a disgraceful human being and should be fired from DC. https://t.co/lxrld80xnT
November 14, 2017
“Ben Affleck discusses leaving the Batman role behind once again.” Good because we don’t someone who uses rape remarks as a form of joke.
November 15, 2017
So Ben Affleck says he wants to be part of the solution and then makes a joke about the sexual assault stories???? Lolololololol ehhh men always say that to be performative, so I don’t really care that he apologized
November 14, 2017
ezra miller’s reaction to ben affleck’s joke about all the sexual assault allegations in hollywood is what i live for pic.twitter.com/n9gzwrUI4z
did ben affleck really make a rape joke right after he “apologised” for groping hilarie burton is he stupid
HuffPost UK has reached out to Ben Affleck’s representative for further comment.
Since the allegations against Weinstein were first published in the New York Times, actress Rose McGowan criticised Ben Affleck over his response, suggesting he was “lying” when he said he’d been unfamiliar with the accusations made against Weinstein.
She went on to claim she’d told him herself of the producer’s unacceptable behaviour.
The Batman actor was also forced to apologise when footage of him groping an MTV presenter on ‘TRL’ resurfaced.