Ben Affleck tattoo

Elen Nivrae/Flickr (CC-BY)

People are still talking about Ben Affleck’s huge back tattoo

Even Matt Damon commented.

 

Tiffany Kelly

Streaming

Posted on Mar 22, 2018   Updated on May 21, 2021, 8:52 pm CDT

Ben Affleck is probably done with the internet, but the internet is not done with him. Days after photos emerged of the actor hanging out on a Hawaii beach with his Triple Frontier co-stars, people are still talking about that weird back tattoo.

The Daily Show host Trevor Noah even asked Affleck’s longtime friend Matt Damon about the tattoo on Wednesday. Damon said he had seen the tattoo in real life, basically confirming that the tattoo is real. Damon also defended Affleck’s decision.

“I don’t believe a friend would allow a friend to get a back tattoo of a colorful dragon,” Noah told Damon.

“It’s not one man’s job to tell another what he can do to his back,” Damon replied. “I support him in all of his artistic expressions.”

If you’re still catching up, Affleck got the colorful tattoo, which appears to show a phoenix rising out of the ashes, more than two years ago. But he claimed that it was “fake for a movie” in an interview with Mario Lopez in 2016. Since it’s 2018, and he still has the tattoo, we’re assuming that it’s very real.

The back tat has become one of the internet’s favorite memes this week.

The most popular paparazzi photo from the beach day (shown in the tweet above) shows the tattoo in full detail. Another photo being widely shared captures Affleck staring at the ocean and apparently contemplating something.

“This is the most Big Mood picture ever taken,” writer Jason Concepcion declared, referencing another popular meme.

People seemed to relate to the Big Mood that Affleck is projecting.

https://twitter.com/apawcalypsemeow/status/976889016745259008

https://twitter.com/Ebo_AA/status/976677567901118465

Naturally, there were also several Batman references.

And nods to his other film roles.

Affleck has yet to publicly comment on the tattoo.

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*First Published: Mar 22, 2018, 10:33 pm CDT