For over a month now, Ben Affleck has been getting a lot of attention. Yes, he had a tumultuous split with his wife of ten years, Jennifer Garner, and yes, he is Batman in the new movie Batman vs. Superman. But Affleck has been getting media attention for something else – a massive back tattoo. It turns out Affleck's ink is completely fake. However, another notorious celebrity, Jack Osbourne, revealed his isn't.
In December 2015, Affleck was caught by paparazzi with a massive back tattoo while on the set for his new movie, "Live by Night." The tattoo is a colorful image of a phoenix rising from the ashes, reaching from his next to below the waistline that incorporated bold yellows, reds and blues. Back then, many speculated that the tattoo was simply for the movie and couldn't possibly be real. However, given Affleck's split with Garner and the fact that he has several real tattoos, some believed he was going through a mid-life crisis and that the tattoo was in fact legitimate.
"Both of Affleck's well-known exes, Garner and Lopez, have commented publicly on Affleck's tattoo."
An agreeable opinion
Since then, both of Affleck's well-known exes, Jennifer Garner and Jennifer Lopez, have commented publicly on the tattoo.
Garner's comment was published during her lengthy interview with Vanity Fair, where she touched on life after divorce and her feelings on Ben. However, when asked about the new ink, Garner had some rather blunt thoughts on it.
"You know what we would say in my hometown about that? 'Bless his heart.' A phoenix rising from the ashes. Am I the ashes in this scenario?" Garner told the publication, winking. "I take umbrage. I refuse to be the ashes."
Lopez wasn't much better. She also was asked about the star's new tattoo during an interview with "Watch What Happens Live!", and her comments were also fairly critical.
"It's AWFUL! I would tell him that, I would tell him," Lopez stated during a game of Plead the Fifth. "Like, what are you doing? It has too many colors. His tattoos always have too many colors! They shouldn't be so colorful. They should be, like cooler."
Naturally, their criticism got a lot of media attention, and several others agreed with Lopez and Garner, stating that the tattoo was ugly and loud.
Well, after at least a month of being criticized, Affleck finally commented on the tattoo himself during an interview with Extra's Mario Lopez. Like so many others in media, Lopez was curious to gain a little insight on the tattoo, its meaning and why Affleck chose to get it. Clearly, Affleck was tired of the speculation and commentary on the tattoo and wanted to put it to rest, so he simply stated,
"Fake for a movie. I actually do have a number of tattoos but I try to have them in places where you don't have to do a lot of cover up they get sort of addictive, tattoos, after awhile."
The reality of it
Several people, including his exes, are probably relieved to hear that the attention-grabbing ink was all for show. However, not everyone's back ink is fake, though you might wish it that way.
Just take Jack Osbourne, who recently went on Instagram to show off his latest tattoo. Like Affleck's faux ink, Osbourne's new addition is very colorful and takes up most of his back, as well as the top of his shoulders and arms. Similar to Affleck's exes, Osbourne's mother, Sharon, wasn't too pleased about his new tattoo, which features red and green colors and an Asian Samurai theme, according to Jack's post.
"Here's something that most people don't know about me Safe to say Mum wasn't thrilled at first. #tattoos #backpeice."
The tattoo features a Samurai warrior fighting a large sea serpent, as well as snakes, mermaids, dragons, roses and even lotus flowers. It reaches from the top of his neck down to his waistline, and takes up much more room on the back than Affleck's did. To say the least, his choice of artwork has a lot going on and probably took a lot of sessions to complete, so hopefully this one won't come with any tattoo regret, despite his mom's criticism.
Osbourne isn't the only one to show off a new, permanent back tattoo. About a month after Affleck's tattoo was revealed, the lead singer of Maroon 5, Adam Levine, posted on Instagram to publicly announce and show off his new work of art on his back.
"6 months in the making," Levine, 36, wrote on Instagram. "Thanks @bryanrandolph for absolutely blowing my mind with this one! Woooo hooooo!!!!"
Like Osbourne's back tattoo, Levine's has a lot going on and covers most of his back as well as the tops of his arms. Just like Affleck, Levine has been criticized by the media for his latest tattoo. Hopefully Levine, who clearly invested a lot of time into his new tattoo, won't experience tattoo regret.
