Kevin Smith Apologizes for Ben Affleck Gay Kiss Story

After recounting that Ben Affleck once said, "A man kissing another man is the greatest acting challenge an actor can ever face," Chasing Amy director Kevin Smith is sorry for ever bringing it up. In a Facebook Live video, he apologied for telling the story, which he said he had told "a zillion times" since the film's first press tour and most recently during a 20th anniversary screening of it at Los Angeles's Outfest LGBT film festival last weekend.

During the video, he underscored that the comments were made in the 1990s and young Ben Affleck was when he made the remarks, for which many, most notably Evan Rachel Wood, took the actor to task. "Of course, Affleck doesn't feel that way today and who knows if he even felt that way then? But he could've, he was in his 20s. We all say goofy shit in our fucking 20s," said Smith. "But it wasn't something he went out into the world and talked about. It was something he said to me." 

The director also emphasized his respect for Wood and how poor headlines had made it look like the comments, made during the filming of Chasing Amy, were more current. Smith asked that the blame be placed on him and even remarked of his former star, "No wonder the guy don't talk to me, for chrissakes, any time I open my mouth, people write a story about him, not me. ... I love Ben Affleck, I ain't talked to him in fucking years, and this is why."

Watch the video below.