Fans defend Ben Affleck after viral TikTok shows him ‘ignoring’ person who said hello

A TikTok which shows Ben Affleck seemingly ignoring a fan who greeted him as he got off an escalator is making rounds online, with fans defending the star for the apparent snub.

The footage, posted by Jaime Núñez (@nunezj182), shows a screen recording of someone else’s Instagram story where his friend encountered the Argo director in Las Vegas.

Affleck can be seen ascending the escalator, while wearing a baseball cap. As he gets closer, he looks up at his surroundings and appears to crack a smile. The fan is then heard greeting Affleck as he walks past him, but the actor either does not hear or does not acknowledge the fan and simply walks off the escalator.

“One of my good friends saw Ben Affleck when he passed by. He said hi but Ben ignored him,” the on-screen caption read.

But the post caption appeared to be more sympathetic to Affleck: “He may seem like a d***, but Celebs do this cuz they don’t want to garner attention,” Núñez wrote.

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Since posting on TikTok, the clip has received more than 685,000 views with people in the comments defending Affleck and highlighting the difficulties of being such a high-profile celebrity.

One person wrote: “Seriously? About 400 people a day probably say hi to him. He probably can’t even keep a train of thought.”

“He’s minding his own business... celebs aren’t zoo animals. Let them be. I have seen 3 celebs irl [in real life] and never bothered to say anything,” another person said.

Someone else added: “Tell your friend to put their phone down and maybe he’d engage. He doesn’t owe anyone anything, especially if it’s for clout on social media.”

“Why do people demand celebrities do things when they ask/tell them too [sic]? They don’t owe anyone anything. You like their movies, it’s their job,” a fourth person replied.

Others shared stories of positive interactions they have heard or experienced first-hand about Affleck.

One person wrote: “Husband worked at The Bellagio for years. Ben was always very nice and an amazing tipper.”

“I met Ben in Vegas back in 2002 at Mirage Sportsbook... coolest dude ever... him and I talked about baseball for 10 minutes and then shook my hand,” another person recalled.

It seems most people agree that, if you’re ever get ignored by a celeb, it’s important to remember that they are human beings too and it’s probably nothing personal.