It’s the bromance that Hollywood deserves. Everyone in the film industry knows how powerful Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s friendship is. However, with the “which could mean nothing” memes, many netizens are looking at their relationship in a new light.
The “which could mean nothing” meme stemmed from a Lainey Gossip headline: “Matt Damon not wearing wedding ring again during another visit to Ben Affleck‘s house which could mean nothing.” The hilarious addition to the end of the article sparked a viral meme that has been used for years, but has intensified recently due to Ben Affleck’s divorce rumors with Jennifer Lopez.
Matt and Ben have known each other since they were 8 and 10 years old. “As a teenager, the natural thing is to have friends who have common interests and so you fit together seamlessly. Before Matt, I was by myself. Acting was a solo activity where I’d just goof and do something, act in a little TV show or something, and no one understood it,” the Argo director told Parade. “All of a sudden I had this friend, Matt, and he gets it and wants to do it and thinks it’s interesting and wants to talk about it. Soon both of us are doing it.”
The two co-starred in a couple projects together like in Glory Daze and had cameos in School Ties. Their big break was when they both wrote and starred in the movie Good Will Hunting, where they won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Ben still holds the record for the youngest winner of the award. “Matt said, ‘Look, will you help me write this? I’m not sure what it is or where to go.’ So we started writing it sort of back and forth,” Ben told Boston Magazine.
Ben and Matt would then collaborate in a plethora of projects like Project Greenlight, The Last Duel, and Air. In 2010, Ben Affleck’s then-wife Jennifer Garner joked about her husband’s friendship.
“Ben is half of one of the greatest love stories ever told. Not with me,” she said in a speech at the American Cinematheque Awards. “The actual prototype for the great Hollywood Bromance … Here’s proof that love is alive and well in Hollywood. At least for my darling husband and my husband’s darling husband.”
Ben later joined on the fun, “Matt always said to me, ‘Ben, there are two things that are more important to me than anything else in this world.’ Folks: ‘Fame, money.’ You did it, Matty! You got there!”
In late May 2024, there has been a resurgence of TikTok posts about their friendship. One fan edit shows an interview with Matt stating about how they persevered through the industry. “I’ve known him for 35 years, and we both were in love with the same thing, with acting and filmmaking. We fed on each other’s obsession during our important formative years and that bonded us for life,” Matt said in the interview with the TikTok caption being “which could mean nothing.” One Redditor said of the trend, “Even if it does mean nothing, this is very sweet. Men deserve to have close friendships.”
Amid Ben’s divorce rumors with Jennifer Lopez, a fan edit with Chapelle Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” shows the supposed tension between J-Lo and Ben, which is resolved when Matt Damon appears. One commenter posted, “how much i like ben affleck is greatly determined by how close matt damon is near him. he just looks so happy and calm when matt is by his side.” The meme has outreached to other fandoms like Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, which focuses on a pair of male best friends and their overall friendship. So safe to say in the end, bromance prevails.
