Jennifer Lopez could avoid the online discourse about her husband Ben Affleck’s “Sadfleck” appearance at the Grammy Awards for only so long. On Thursday, the singer riffed on the viral memes to promote the Oscar winner’s latest project.
Lopez took to Instagram to plug Affleck’s new Nike film “Air,” which dropped a trailer Thursday, by posting a clip emblazoned with the words, “My husband’s happy face.”
Of course, Affleck didn’t look happy at all in said clip, which showed him portraying Nike co-founder Phil Knight. Nor did he look happy last Sunday, as seen in the plethora of memes and gifs he inspired during the awards ceremony where his wife was presenting.
But apparently the “Argo” actor-director and the Grammy-nominated “Let’s Get Loud” singer were having a great time, according to additional photos from the show and a seat filler who at one point joined the newlyweds’ table inside Crypto.com Arena.
Unfortunately, Julie Phan, a UCLA student majoring in cognitive science, could not hear anything the power pair said but took note of Bennifer 2.0’s demeanor during the show. That demeanor increasingly appeared “miserable” during several of the telecast’s cutaways and was showcased in the background of one of host Trevor Noah’s monologues. That particular clip, which was interpreted by fans as Lopez telling her husband to behave, sent the internet into a lip-reading spiral.
“Throughout the time that I was there next to J.Lo, I just noticed that they were very affectionate towards each other,” Phan told BuzzFeed. “There was no bickering or fighting. He was hugging her and everything. I think at one point they were showing PDA to a point where, OK, I’ll just look away. They weren’t making out or anything, you know. Just very warm towards each other.”
Entertainment Tonight reported that Affleck and Lopez were aware of the latest memes of exasperation that he had inspired but didn’t care that he was getting the viral treatment. Lopez reportedly found some of them to be pretty funny, which they absolutely were.
“Jen and Ben are both aware of the memes of Ben circulating,” a source told the publication. “She had shown him a few photos that night and he just brushed it off. He is not fazed by what the internet has to say about him.”
Representatives for the couple did not respond to The Times’ requests for comment.
But if you came here to find out more about Affleck’s “Air,” here’s what we‘ve got: The movie, written by Alex Convery, is Affleck’s newest since he directed 2016’s “Live by Night.” It chronicles the partnership between Knight and future NBA superstar Michael Jordan as the company courted the rookie to launch Nike’s then-fledgling basketball division that ultimately disrupted the world of fashion and sports with the Air Jordan brand.
Newly minted EGOT winner Viola Davis plays Deloris Jordan, who advocated for her son Michael during negotiations and was committed to ensuring his legacy. Matt Damon, who is being directed for the first time by his longtime pal and collaborator, plays maverick Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro, Amazon Studios said.
The film, which hits theaters exclusively on April 5, also stars Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser, Chris Messina as David Falk, Marlon Wayans as George Raveling, Chris Tucker as Howard White, Matthew Maher as Peter Moore, Gustaf Skarsgård as Horst Dassler and Julius Tennon as James Jordan.
