14 DAY TRIAL // Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner announced their divorce 2 weeks ago, 1 day after their 10th wedding anniversary. His appearance at San Diego Comic-Con 2015 over the weekend, on the Warner Bros. panel, was his first public outing since the divorce announcement.
He knew all eyes would be on him and he also knew that he would benefit more from the heartbroken, distraught narrative his PR team has been pushing of his post-split, than he would from the other story, the one that painted him as a cheater, an alcoholic and a gambler.
So Ben Affleck came to Comic-Con with his wedding ring on his finger, even though, according to reports, his marriage has been dead for almost a year.
Going for the sympathy vote
When a celebrity couple goes through a divorce, especially if we’re talking about a couple who thrives on media attention as much as the Affleck-Garners have, they do it with help from a PR firm. In their case, the divorce has been handled with extra care, to the point where no detail has been left uncovered.
What could have easily turned into a major scandal (because of Affleck’s abovementioned boozing and cheating and gambling) is now playing out as an amicable and heartbreaking split.
With Batman, Ben Affleck has to win the approval of the most rigid niche of the public: the Batman fans. He already got off to a bad start when they reacted against his casting in the iconic role, so he can use whatever sympathy he can get.
He aimed for more by putting his wedding ring back on for Comic-Con 2015, as the photo attached to this article confirms. The video available below is the entire Warner Bros. panel for the upcoming “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
Affleck knew that all eyes would be on him for this appearance, looking for signs that would confirm that he was really distraught. He knew people would look at his hand for the wedding ring.
Affleck removed his ring right after the panel
Proof that he was merely wearing his wedding ring to get the sympathy vote comes from the fact that he removed it right after he got off the stage. He didn’t even wait to be out of the convention center and into the car to do it, the NY Daily News points out.
“Affleck’s band mysteriously vanished as a sea of fans heard from a panel of the film’s all-star cast and director and saw its three-minute trailer. […] Fans crowded the stage as Affleck made his exit. He waved goodbye with his left hand from alongside Henry Cavill, the movie’s Superman, revealing a faint imprint of where a ring once was,” the report says.
Once outside, on his way to the car, he kept his left hand in his pocket to make sure no one noticed that the ring was missing. By that time, it was too late, because photographers had already taken his picture.
