It's been almost ten years since Ben Affleck became a meme known as "sad Affleck." The cigarette consumer has always appreciated nicotine, often being spotted with a stoggie since the early 2000s. On Monday, November 10, he was photographed outside the Sunset Towers hotel in Los Angeles, taking a long, passionate drag of his little white friend.
In the picture, Affleck is dressed to impress, wearing a tailored gray suit and vest with a white collared button-up shirt.
The photos are a work of art, and instantly became a meme.
The original photo of "Sad Affleck" dates back to 2016, when he spent his 44th birthday with his estranged wife Jennifer Garner and their three children in London, per The Cut. Adding more hilarity to the context.
Ben's history with cigarettes
Affleck has had many photos go viral smoking a ciggy, begrudgingly staring at paparazzi snapping away, or buying bulk boxes of Camels - his cigarette of choice.
But he did have a brief period where he stopped smoking with the help of hypnosis. He decided to quit in 2005 ahead of the birth of his first child, Violet. "I finally decided to quit smoking when I was going to have a child, and that was the thing that sort of put it over the top for me," he told Oprah Winfrey.
He got the idea from his bestie Matt Damon. According to Affleck, the hypnotist "sips water and just talks to you for an hour and explains to you how nicotine is poison." "And it seems really, like, 'How could this help me?' And all of a sudden you think, 'This is asinine that I had been doing this to myself for all these years.'"
At the time, his last cigarette was on November 10, 2005. " I feel a huge difference in my health now that I don’t smoke. I feel like I’m in better shape than I was five years ago.”
He seemed to have picked up the habit again in 2016. It's been described as the only vice he has left, after struggling with a "lifelong and difficult struggle" with alcohol addiction. The actor has long been open about his journey with sobriety, reportedly seeking treatment in 2001, 2017, and 2018.
So, while cigarettes may not be the most healthy, Affleck has made some incredible strides with sobriety and addiction, so if he wants to inhale a cigarette outside like it's his last one on earth, we should give him some grace.