--- title: Matt Damon Defends Ben Affleck's Right to Have a Back Tattoo description: Matt Damon weighed in on Ben Affleck's infamous back tattoo, which the actor had previously said was fake but appears to be real. canonical: https://time.com/5212486/matt-damon-defends-ben-affleck-back-tattoo/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-23T15:36:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:35.729Z og:title: Matt Damon Defends Ben Affleck's Right to Have a Back Tattoo og:description: "I support him in all of his ‘artistic expression.’ ” og:url: https://time.com/5212486/matt-damon-defends-ben-affleck-back-tattoo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a14b7a5177719d2/69892bc84ee262a0ef311496/matt-damon-ben-affleck-back-tattoo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Premiere Of Warner Bros. Pictures' "Live By Night" - Red Carpet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Matt Damon Defends Ben Affleck's Right to Have a Back Tattoo twitter:description: "I support him in all of his ‘artistic expression.’ ” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a14b7a5177719d2/69892bc84ee262a0ef311496/matt-damon-ben-affleck-back-tattoo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Matt Damon Defends BFF Ben Affleck's Right to Tattoo His Own Back However He Wants > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Mar 23, 2018 3:36 PM UTC  HOLLYWOOD, CA - JANUARY 09: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck attend the premiere Of Warner Bros. Pictures' "Live By Night" at TCL Chinese Theatre on January 9, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Todd Williamson/Getty Images) HOLLYWOOD, CA - JANUARY 09: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck attend the premiere Of Warner Bros. Pictures' "Live By Night" at TCL Chinese Theatre on January 9, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Todd Williamson/Getty Images) Todd Williamson—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Mar 23, 2018 3:36 PM UTC [Matt Damon](http://time.com/5104248/matt-damon-me-too/) is taking a stand for [bestie Ben Affleck](http://time.com/4716515/matt-damon-ben-affleck-mr-mom/)‘s right to tattoo his back, no matter how large or colorful the ink. The infamous back tattoo, a colorful phoenix that takes up the majority of Affleck’s back, made headlines when it was [spotted in the summer of 2015](http://people.com/movies/inside-ben-afflecks-giant-back-tattoo-took-hours-hours-finish/) following his [divorce from Jennifer Garner](http://time.com/4739528/ben-affleck-jennifer-garner-divorce/). In 2016, Affleck told [_Extra_](http://people.com/movies/ben-affleck-reveals-his-massive-back-tattoo-is-fake-for-a-movie/) that the ink was “fake for a movie,” but hype surrounding the massive tattoo resurged when the actor was [spotted last week](http://people.com/movies/ben-affleck-shows-off-back-tattoo-after-claiming-fake/) training shirtless for his upcoming movie _Triple Frontier_. In an interview with Trevor Noah on _The Daily Show_, Damon weighed in on Affleck’s distinctive ink. “It’s not one man’s job to tell another man what he can do to his back,” he said. “I support him in all of his ‘artistic expression.’ ” Damon’s answer was more diplomatic than both of Affleck’s exes, Jennifer Garner and Jennifer Lopez. Jennifer Garner was candid in her thoughts about the very large tattoo in a 2016 [_Vanity Fair_](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/02/jennifer-garner-talks-kids-career-ben-affleck)feature. “You know what we would say in my hometown about that? ‘Bless his heart,’” she said. “A phoenix rising from the ashes. Am I the ashes in this scenario? I take umbrage. I refuse to be the ashes.” Jennifer Lopez, the original Jennifer in Bennifer, didn’t mince her words when it came to her critique of the tattoo during an episode of [_Watch What Happens Live_.](http://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/ben-affleck-back-tattoo-jennifer-lopez-reacts) “It’s awful! What are you doing?” The actress also added that “his tattoos always have too many colors, they shouldn’t be so colorful. They should be cooler.” > [](https://twitter.com/LittleMissLizz/status/976150923243376640) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5212486/matt-damon-defends-ben-affleck-back-tattoo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5212486/matt-damon-defends-ben-affleck-back-tattoo/"},"headline":"Matt Damon Defends BFF Ben Affleck's Right to Tattoo His Own Back However He Wants","datePublished":"2018-03-23T15:36:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:51:35.729Z","description":"\"I support him in all of his ‘artistic expression.’ ”","url":"https://time.com/5212486/matt-damon-defends-ben-affleck-back-tattoo/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a14b7a5177719d2/69892bc84ee262a0ef311496/matt-damon-ben-affleck-back-tattoo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a14b7a5177719d2/69892bc84ee262a0ef311496/matt-damon-ben-affleck-back-tattoo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Premiere Of Warner Bros. 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