--- ---  # Matt Damon Defends BFF Ben Affleck's Right to Tattoo His Own Back However He Wants  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) Matt Damon Defends Ben Affleck's Right to Have a Back Tattoo ```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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