Ben Affleck Claps Back at New Yorker Piece Criticizing His Tattoos and Weight

Almost certainly responding to a piece published earlier this week titled "The Great Sadness of Ben Affleck," the "Justice League" star broke his three-month Twitter silence to let everyone know he's AOK.

After Affleck said the giant back piece was fake back in 2016, it was exposed as the real deal when it emerged again in new beach photos this month. This is his first comment regarding the images.

In the New Yorker article, the writer reflected on the "recalibration" of Affleck's career trajectory in the two years since his split from Jennifer Garner. "Affleck was older, suddenly flailing; and his enormous, garish tattoo - whether real or not - was the least of it," wrote Naomi Fry, who went on to break down his rumored infidelity with a nanny (something he and Garner denied), his involvement in the #MeToo fallout, the "Sad Affleck" meme and his overall "despondent" appearance.

Regarding the beach photos that came out from the set of his new movie, Fry added, "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." Ouch!

Ben's BFF, Matt Damon, spoke about the ink in a recent interview with Trevor Noah as well.

"I have to tackle the pressing news with you right now, Matt, when did you break up with Ben Affleck?" asked Noah, prompting Damon to joke, "Unfortunately, I can't seem to shake him. I've known him since I was 10, 37 years."

That responses didn't make any sense to Noah, however, who just couldn't believe "a friend would allow a friend to get a back tattoo of a colorful dragon." Matt's take: "It's not one man's job to tell another man what he can do to his back. I support him in all of his artistic expression." Note: he did not say any of this with a straight face.

"Fair enough, that's a good friend answer actually," replied Noah