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Kelly Rissman
US News Reporter
FForget the summer of hot girls and the summer of brats. The 2024 season may have actually been a Ben Affleck summer.
In 2019, Megan Thee Stallion wanted us all to eschew confidence and focus on self-care when she released “Hot Girl Summer.” In 2022, we’re shifting completely into comfort, wearing linen pants and wide-brimmed hats to follow the coastal granny trend. More recently, we’ve transitioned into “brat summer,” not worrying about how late we go out and speaking without a filter, while transforming into our inner brat.
“You’re that girl who’s a little bit messy and sometimes says dumb things, who feels like who she is, but then she might have a breakdown too, but she gets through it with joy. She’s honest, direct and a little bit volatile. That’s Brat. Think Courtney Love in the 90s, Amy Winehouse in the early 2000s and Ke$ha in the 2010s,” said British pop star Charli XCX, as she described exactly what it means to have a brat summer.
But TikToker Michael Major was having the exact opposite of a Brat summer. While the Brat summer phenomenon was taking off, he was in the middle of starting a new job that left him completely clueless. “I had just started a new job, so I was really stressed out and it was a big step; my mind was all over the place,” he said. The Independent.
Major and his friends joked that Brat’s summery trend didn’t reflect how stressed they felt, as they began to identify with Ben Affleck. “Affleck has always been photographed as if he’s on the edge of the abyss,” he said.
The actor has become famous for his stressed-out attitude, especially when seen smoking a cigarette to relax. His meme status dates back to 2016, when the internet gave him the nickname “Sad Affleck” as he was constantly photographed during press tours looking “dead inside.” That's not to mention his various paparazzi photos with a tired face, unbrushed hair, and a large coffee in his hands, most of it from Dunkin'.
Affleck is widely known for his love of Dunkin' coffee and became an official spokesperson when he appeared in a Dunkin' ad during the Super Bowl. But fans were largely convinced this summer that his “stressed out” appearance had something to do with his “yet-unannounced” divorce from Lopez.
This led to the creation of Major's TikTok video, in which he is seen walking around New York City with an iced coffee in hand. “Enjoying my summer with Ben Affleck (walking, drinking Dunkin' iced coffee while very stressed),” the text on the screen read.
Not only does Affleck seem unbothered by the photos being taken of him almost all the time, but comments on social media claim that he seems to be over it as well. As a result, it wasn't long before fans began to suspect that he was divorcing his second wife, Jennifer Lopez.
Major could relate to an earlier time in the Oscar winner’s life. When the “sad Affleck” meme first started popping up, around the same time the actor was divorcing ex-wife Jennifer Garner in 2018, Major was also constantly stressed about adjusting to his new work environment — until he was fired.
He found another common ground with the actor after being fired from his job, coinciding with the time when images began circulating of Affleck looking stressed about his impending divorce with Lopez. Ordinance The star was again photographed alone and without his wife, even at important moments that they should have celebrated together, such as their wedding anniversary and her birthday. Major said that he always seemed sad and stressed, as he was constantly looking for new jobs.
Since Major posted his original video in May, other creators have jumped on the trend, showing themselves drinking iced coffee while also “stressing out.” Some TikTokers have taken Ben Affleck’s summer to the next level by filming themselves wearing baggy flannels and loose-fitting tops, similar to the lazy-guy fashion aesthetic Adam Sandler coined in 2023. Simply throw on a flannel and carry a Dunkin’ coffee to achieve Ben Affleck’s classic summer look.
Major was inspired by the Ben Affleck idea for the summer because of how frequently the actor and Lopez's divorce was talked about online. “It's funny, because I'm not even a huge Ben Affleck fan, I'm mostly a fan because of the paparazzi photos,” he said.
For August, TMZ broke the news that Lopez had filed for divorce from Affleck after two years of marriage. The “Let’s Get Loud” singer had indicated that the couple would split on April 26.
The couple's short-lived relationship sounded almost exactly like the plot of a romantic comedy. The two exes had grown apart following the end of their engagement in 2004, but reunited more than a decade after their own failed relationships. Affleck and Lopez seemed to be the “love that got away” from each other, and the public was comforted by their adorable second chance at love. However, their divorce dragged on for months, with every tabloid highlighting the moments the couple was apart and counting down the days until they were seen together again. With a new story about the couple popping up daily, it was no surprise that Affleck appeared stressed out in nearly every paparazzi photo.
As for Affleck, he was seen after the divorce announcement with a bag of fast food in his hand, and many people joked that he looked happier living the single life. “The man got his smile back,” one person wrote on X, while another noted, “Looks like Uber Eats is the best thing that ever happened to this man. The true love of his life.”
Even Major agreed that Affleck seemed less stressed than usual after the news of their divorce was announced. “I’ve noticed he seems really happy in some of the paparazzi photos that are popping up, so I’m hoping things are looking up for him,” she said.
She also pointed out the irony of how her own life aligned with the rise and fall of Ben Affleck’s summer. “I got a new job the day the divorce was formally announced, so maybe Ben Affleck and I’s stressful summers ended at the same time,” Major questioned.
On September 2, Labor Day, Charli XCX took to X to announce the end of Brat Summer. “Goodbye forever Brat Summer,” she wrote on the platform, signifying the end of seasonal trends, including Ben Affleck Summer.
But while the trend itself may be over, the actor will likely continue to provide us with memes for many summers to come.
