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Ben Affleck Looking Painfully Bored at the Grammys Is Now a Meme

Attending a posh awards ceremony would be a dream come true for some, but the actor seemed miserable.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper
2 min read
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck sitting front row at the Grammys

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday. 

 Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Imagine sitting in the front row at the Grammy Awards, music's biggest night of the year. Sure, it's not the Oscars, but you'd be surrounded by celebs dressed to the nines, and treated to music from some of the industry's best. Or maybe the whole experience would be just as painful as having a root canal. Ben Affleck attended Sunday's Grammys with wife Jennifer Lopez, and was captured on the live broadcast looking miserable, creating an instant Sad Affleck meme.

"Ben Affleck is every introvert everywhere," one person wrote on Twitter. "You can see his batteries draining in real time. Man is already at 23%."

Another wrote, "Ben's bringing the same energy to the Grammys that a 15 yr old brings when they go anywhere with their parents."

The most famous Affleck-looking-pained image came during a Stevie Wonder performance, and that made no sense to the audience.

"Ben Affleck would rather be anywhere else than front row at the #Grammys2023 watching Stevie Wonder crush Higher Ground," one person wrote.

Some people related the Affleck look to their own lives. One person wrote, "Channeling Ben Affleck when boss calls for a late Friday meeting."

Another wrote, "Ben Affleck at the Grammys is me any time I have to be on a Zoom call."

But others defended Affleck's facial expression, noting that the actor has been upfront about his life struggles.

"Ben looks like he's sensitive to noise," one person wrote. "Also, he's a recovering alcoholic and there's booze everywhere. Stay strong Ben! I know there's a lot going on."