Steven Spielberg refused to work with Ben Affleck over family pool fight, claims screenwriter

Screenwriter Mike Binder ended up directing 2006’s ‘Man About Town’ himself and described the alleged incident on a podcast

Steven Spielberg once allegedly refused to work with Ben Affleck on a movie partly because of a long-running grudge stemming from a family vacation, the film’s screenwriter has claimed.

Mike Binder claims he developed 2006’s Man About Town, about a Hollywood agent, with Spielberg, and that the Jaws filmmaker was initially attached to direct.

Speaking on the One Bad Movie podcast, Binder said Spielberg changed his mind about directing but encouraged him to direct the script himself for Spielberg’s DreamWorks Pictures.

However, when Binder wanted to cast Ben Affleck in the lead role, Spielberg allegedly backed out.

Binder said: "I call Steven, Steven says: ‘No. Can’t do it with him. We just bombed with a movie with him, he’s got that whole J-Lo thing going on now, and I have other problems with him.’”

According to the screenwriter, those “problems” dated back to when Affleck was dating Spielberg’s goddaughter, Gwyneth Paltrow.

Steven Spielberg allegedly holds a grudge against Ben Affleck over an incident on a family vacation (Getty)

Binder claims Spielberg told him they went on a family vacation together, and that: “‘My son was a little boy, he was playing in the pool, and he got out of the pool, and Ben came in fully dressed, and my son pushed Ben into the pool. And Ben got really mad at him, and he came out of the pool and picked him up and threw him back into the pool, and made my son cry.’”

When Binder asked Spielberg why he was telling him that story, he said Spielberg explained: “‘I just don't like to work with him. Plus his last two movies bombed. Find somebody else. Anyone but him. He’s cold as hell.’”

When Binder told Affleck’s agent that he couldn’t cast him, the actor immediately called him back.

“Ben calls me up, he says, ‘Did Steven Spielberg tell you I threw his kid in the water? Is that what happened? Is that why I'm not on your movie?’ I said, ‘No, he didn't say...’ ‘Yes he did! He told you I threw his kid in the water. That's why I'm not on the movie.’”

Binder says he called Spielberg back and told him he still wanted to cast Affleck in the film. Spielberg went along with it, but the following day Binder learned that DreamWorks was dropping the project.

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Binder eventually made the film with Affleck for the independent production company Media 8, and distributor Lionsgate released it straight to DVD.

The Independent has approached Spielberg and Affleck for comment.

Binder added that several years later, in 2013, he watched Affleck win the Oscar for Best Picture for Argo.

“He beats Spielberg [for Lincoln], and he’s at the Academy Awards, and they're hugging,” recalls Binder,

“I text him, I'm watching on the air, I go: ‘Ben, tonight you could throw Spielberg’s whole family in the pool and get away with it.’ About an hour later, the phone rings, it’s Affleck at the Academy... he goes: ‘That made me laugh so f***ing hard.’”