The real tattoo fail? a teenage Affleck’s barbed wire mishap
When you think of Ben Affleck’s ink, one image instantly burns into your brain: that massive, multi-coloured phoenix sprawled across his back.
You know the one—the tattoo that broke the internet when he was spotted drying off on a beach, its vibrant wingspan impossible to ignore.
Despite years of memes and debates over its… ahem… bold artistic choices, it turns out Ben doesn’t actually consider it his worst tattoo.
Nope, that honour goes to a much earlier (and far more regrettable) attempt at body art.
During Complex’s GOAT Talk series, Ben and The Accountant 2 co-star Jon Bernthal dished on their most regrettable ink.
While Jon narrowly avoided getting “nasty” tattooed (thanks to his wife’s intervention), Ben confessed to a cringe-worthy teen rebellion moment: a half-finished barbed wire arm tattoo.
“It was terrible,” he admitted, explaining that the pain made him tap out early, leading to a series of cover-ups.
And while he briefly gestured toward his infamous back piece, he clarified that his tattoos stay hidden for work—though JLo once gave fans a rare shirtless glimpse in a Father’s Day post.
As for the phoenix? Ben stands by it, telling Ellen in 2019, “I love my tattoo. I’m very happy with it.”
Some mysteries, it seems, are meant to stay inked in history.
