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Steven Spielberg Refused to Work with Ben Affleck over Pool Row

Mike Binder says Steven Spielberg blocked Ben Affleck from Man About Town due to a pool incident and Affleck's box-office flops, leading DreamWorks to drop the project.

  • Mike Binder said Steven Spielberg withdrew from directing after objecting to Ben Affleck, and DreamWorks dropped Man About Town the following day while Binder still wanted Affleck to lead.
  • According to Binder, Spielberg told him that Affleck made his young son cry during a family vacation pool when Affleck was dating Spielberg's goddaughter Gwyneth Paltrow, and later said, 'I just don't like to work with him.'
  • Binder said, `We make a deal that he's gonna do it, we shake hands, he'll do it,` but Spielberg declined, citing recent box-office issues with Affleck, Binder claimed.
  • The reworked project led Mike Binder to direct Man About Town with Ben Affleck for Media 8, and Lionsgate released it straight to DVD; Binder called the film "s---ty" but praised Affleck's performance.
  • Despite the earlier row, Ben Affleck and Steven Spielberg embraced at the 2013 Academy Awards, and Mike Binder revisited the episode on Stephen Baldwin's One Bad Movie podcast, saying both men acted poorly.
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Steven Spielberg refused to work with Ben Affleck over pool row

Steven Spielberg refused to make a movie with Ben Affleck because the actor had made his son cry.

·Kelowna, Canada
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  • 42% of the sources lean Left, 42% of the sources are Center
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Entertainment Weekly broke the news in United States on Monday, December 22, 2025.
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