Ben Affleck’s trash was the talk of the town on Monday after news Affleck dumped a life-size poster of ex Ana de Armas following news of their breakup.
Twitter went wild when pictures of a giant, smiling de Armas cut-out being shoved in the trash by two workers emerged just hours after word of the BenAna breakup.
People were sent into such a frenzy that some fans even began to speculate that Ben’s brother Casey Affleck, 45, was the one who dumped the poster, even though it was clearly someone from a landscaping crew.
Brotherly love? Fans went wild after photos of an Ana de Armas cut out in Ben Affleck’s trash hit the internet hours after their breakup made news. The pics even sparked a rumor that Ben’s brother Casey was the one who canned the cut-out, though it was obviously a member of the landscaping team
There for you: The Affleck brothers are seen in 2007 together above
Still, fans loved toying with the idea.
‘Casey Affleck dressing up as a groundkeeper to throw a life-sized cutout of ana de armas into a dumpster was absolutlely on my bingo card,’ writer Cale Weissman tweeted.
‘Strongly relate to the life-sized cardboard cutout of ana de armas being gingerly lowered into the garbage by casey affleck,’ another Twitter user said.
‘Cannot think of anything funnier that ben affleck making casey affleck throw out the life sized cutout of ana de armas that ben had,’ wrote one more.
Another fan dramatized the entire affair, giving it the title: ‘The Recycling of Ana De Armas by the masked Casey Affleck (2021).’
Writer Wynter Mitchell Rohrbaugh was delighted by the pettiness of the gesture, tweeting: ‘Casey Affleck throwing out the Ana De Armas cutout at Ben’s house is PETTY. TOM PETTY.’
Iconic: Fans loved toying with the idea of the younger Affleck doing the dirty deed
BenAna split! The two stars are seen together out in Venice back in June
Even without the Casey angle, people couldn’t believe the scene.
‘just CHOKED on my wine.,’ Us Weekly’s Emily Longeretta wrote in a retweet.
‘Art,’ tweeted writer Dana Schwartz.
‘When u know it’s over,’ Taylor Lorenz remarked.
‘She went out with a crushed Dunkin’ Munchkins box,’ fan Marissa Monticolo joked.
‘When you and your boy meet up at the bar to talk s**t on the woman who just broke your heart but in doing so realize she’s perfect,’ writer Alan Hanson imagined.
‘These photos of garbage collectors throwing Ben’s giant Ana de Armas cutout away will haunt you for the rest of time,’ wrote celeb podcast Who? Weeky.
All the ruckus arose after Affleck discarded the life-size, cardboard cut-out of the Knives Out actress in the bins outside his Brentwood home.
Ben had a helpful member of the landscaping team whisk the smiling souvenir outside, obviously over any reminders of his former love.
It took a bit of effort to get rid of her, however.
Ben must have deemed the cut-out completely worthless, skipping the recycle bin and going straight into the garbage.
But the life-size poster was a bit too big to fit inside the trash cans at first, making not one, but two grown men struggle to shove the photo inside.
Finding themselves at odds with fake-Ana, the pair eventually resorted to breaking the poster in two before it began its life mingling with empty Dunkin’ Donuts boxes and Diet Coke cans.
Garbage: Ben had a helper whisk the smiling souvenir outside, obviously over any reminders of his former love
It takes two: The life-size poster was a bit too big to fit inside the trash cans, making not one, but two grown men struggle to shove the photo inside
From the looks of it, Ben was ready to put the past behind him.
Affleck and de Armas’ romance began when they met while working on the ‘erotic thriller’ Deep Water in 2019, but they weren’t linked until early 2020.
But now, according to reports, the pair have ‘mutually and amicably’ decided to go their separate ways.
Several sources confirmed the split to People, with one insider revealing that Ana didn’t want to be tied to Los Angeles, where Ben has to be based for his kids.
‘Ben is no longer dating Ana,’ the source told the publication. ‘She broke it off. Their relationship was complicated. Ana doesn’t want to be Los Angeles based and Ben obviously has to since his kids live in Los Angeles.’
Break-up: Finding themselves at odds with fake-Ana, the pair eventually resorted to breaking the poster in two before it began its life mingling with Dunkin’ Donuts boxes and Diet Coke cans
Off the hook: Ana reportedly pulled the plug on the relationship over the phone
News: ‘Ben is no longer dating Ana,’ the source told the publication. ‘She broke it off. Their relationship was complicated. Ana doesn’t want to be Los Angeles based and Ben obviously has to since his kids live in Los Angeles’
Another insider told the publication: ‘They are in different points in their lives; there is deep love and respect there. Ben continues to want to work on himself. He has three jobs lined up and he’s a solid father at home. They are both happy with where they are in their lives.’
Additionally, UsWeekly quotes a source who revealed: ‘Ben and Ana were moving in different directions in their lives and stopped seeing eye to eye. The two couldn’t work through their differences and have decided to end their relationship.’
The couple appeared to be getting more serious in recent months. Over the summer it was rumored that Ana had moved in to the Gone Girl star’s Pacific Palisades home after putting her Venice, California property on the market.
In different places: Several sources confirmed the split to People, with one insider revealing that Ana didn’t want to be tied to Los Angeles, where Ben has to be based for his kids
In August, she was spotted moving her things into Ben’s property from her Venice home.
The Cuban born actress was even seen flashing a diamond ring on her hand as she joined Ben for some reshoots of their movie Deep Water in New Orleans in November.
But it seems the ring was simply a prop for the movie, as the actors play a married couple in the Adrian Lyne-directed psychological thriller.
Furthering signaling things were serious, they were then spotted on a romantic getaway to Ana’s native Cuba in March 2020 before heading to Costa Rica and getting back to Los Angeles just before the lockdowns started.
The beginning: The couple were pictured on a romantic getaway to Ana’s native Cuba in March 2020 before heading to Costa Rica and getting back to Los Angeles just before the lockdowns started
They spent much of 2020 inseparable, enjoying walks in LA with their dogs and casual outings for coffee.
Ana made their relationship Instagram official in April when she shared snaps of the couple hanging out on her 32nd birthday.
During their relationship the actor introduced Ana to his three children with ex-wife Jennifer Garner; Violet, 14, Seraphina, 11 and Samuel, eight.
Sources at the time told People: ‘Ana seems to love being around his kids. Everyone has been getting along great. Ana is making an effort to get to know his kid.’
All smiles: Ana shared this photo of the couple in August
Ben was previously married to Jennifer from 2005 to 2018 and they have a built a solid co-parenting relationship in recent years, with the actress also supporting Ben with his sobriety.
Before meeting Ana, Ben was in a relationship with SNL producer Lindsay Shookus from July 2017 to August 2018. They reunited in February the following year before ending things for good in April 2019.
The actor also dated model Shauna Sexton briefly in 2018.
In February 2020 the Good Will Hunting star talked about his desire to meet someone special.
‘I would love to have a relationship that is deeply meaningful and one to which I could be deeply committed,’ he said during a Good Morning America interview.
‘Five years from now Ben Affleck is sober and happy and sees his kids three-and-a-half days a week and has made three or four movies that are interesting to him. I directed two [movies] that he is hopefully proud of and is in a healthy, stable, loving, committed relationship.’