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Matt Damon Breaks His Silence on Ben Affleck's Newly Revealed Tattoo

Matt Damon has Ben Affleck‘s back.

The Internet erupted last week when photos of Affleck’s long-rumored back tattoo were captured while the actor was filming shirtless in Hawaii, ending a three-year, is-it-or-isn’t-it real saga.

On a visit to The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Affleck’s longtime pal Damon responded to a question about his friend’s newly revealed ink with a diplomatic answer.

“It’s not one man’s job to tell another man what he can do to his back,” Damon told Noah.

The Suburbicon actor continued: “I support him in all of his artistic expression.”

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in 2017
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in 2017

The tattoo, a full-color picture of a phoenix taking flight, covers Affleck’s back. The actor once claimed it was fake for a movie, but clearly it’s more permanent.

Damon isn’t the only person close to Affleck who has had something to say about the tattoo. In a 2016 interview with Vanity Fair Affleck’s ex Jennifer Garner hinted that she wasn’t a big fan of the colorful design.

“You know what we would say in my hometown about that? ‘Bless his heart,'” she told the publication.

Another one of Affleck’s exes didn’t hold anything back in her scathing review. Jennifer Lopez — who was previously engaged to the actor — called the tattoo “awful” during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live.

“It’s awful! What are you doing?” Lopez told host Andy Cohen during the “Plead the Fifth” segment of the show.

“His tattoos always have too many colors, they shouldn’t be so colorful. They should be cooler,” she added.

The Justice League star also has a dolphin on his right hip covering up the name of his high school sweetheart, and has been seen with barbed wire across his right bicep, a large design featuring a fish and a skull and crossbones on his right arm and some initials inscribed on his shoulder blade.