Ben Affleck recalls 2013 Oscar snub: ‘I can do the math on who the asshole is here’

Actor said he ‘schmoozed everybody in the world’ during the Oscar campaign for ‘Argo’

Ben Affleck has recalled his frustration after being snubbed at the 2013 Oscars.

The actor had directed and starred in the true-life drama Argo, which ended up winning three awards, including Best Picture.

However, Affleck himself was not nominated in either the Best Actor or Best Director categories.

Speaking on The Howard Stern Show, Affleck recalled: ““It was the big snub, right? That really taught me a lot. I did everything they told me. They told me, ‘You got to kiss the babies.’ And I schmoozed everybody in the world right. Part of this [is] because you’re the director, but truth is, I wanted it.

“And then, and everybody told me, ‘Oh you’re gonna win.’ It wasn’t, ‘You’re going to be nominated.’ It was, ‘You’re a lock.’ So of course I get up that morning, go sit in front of the TV. And I did assume I was gonna get nominated. Because everybody said I would. So all these people must know. And they read those names, and I remember thinking, ‘It’s never gonna happen. I’m never gonna get it.’”

Affleck said that after hearing the nominations, he phoned “the Warner Bros people” who had pushed for his nomination, and told them he was “done”.

“I’m never going to do it again,” Affleck told them. “No handshaking. I don’t give a f***.’”

Affleck admitted that he was still “proud” of the film, and “glad” that editor Billy Goldenberg and screenwriter Chris Terrio received nominations.

“We had Editing, Score, Picture,” he added. “The only guy who f***ed up was the lead and the director? I can do the math on who the asshole is here.”

Argo is available to stream on Netflix now.