If you’ve been following Ben Affleck’s long and bumpy road to recovery as closely as I have, you’ll be well aware that he’s not only back on the straight and narrow, but he’s landed himself a new relationship with Knives Out actress, Ana de Armas. However, it’s not all sunshine, roses and quarantine love affairs – in fact, there’s a bunch of Tik Tok users on a mission to prove their relationship is all a lie.
Speaking of celebrity relationship, hear about Zendaya’s potentially awkward office romance below:
It all started when Tik Tok user @jorge.lopezoo posted a video of de Armas and Affleck walking hand-in-hand with their two dogs in front of four strategically-placed paparazzis. He hilariously captioned the video, “I’ve been in LA for one day.”
The video was quick to attract a number of negative comments, like “that looks so staged.” When one user commented, “must be depressing…imagine going for a walk and being stalked like that,” @jorge.lopezoo blew the whole thing open.
“The depressing part is the celebrity called them,” he responded. “Saw it with my own eyes.”
Yikes!
When another user pressed for details, asking if it was Ana or Ben who “made the call,” the Tik Tok user explained, “Ben’s girlfriend made a call and said “ok Rodrigo we’re ready…” Then four or five paparazzi proceed to jump out a van. I was so confused.”
It might be shocking, but Affleck and de Armas’ staged paparazzi shots are nothing new. Back in 2016, actual paparazzi Justin Steffman told Cosmopolitan he was certain that photos of Taylor Swift and then-boyfriend Tom Hiddleston kissing were staged.
According to Steffman, the reason celebs stage their paparazzi shots is mostly because of money, “but they also release photos because they want to have control of their own image.”
Is Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas’ fabricated photo shoot a way for the actor to let the world know he’s doing okay? We can only hope that’s the case and he is truly happy, away from the cameras as well as in front.
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