Steven Spielberg Accused Ben Affleck of Bullying His Young Son: Report

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Well, folks, this is probably the last celebrity feud of 2025, and it’s about as random as they come!

It seems that Steven Spielberg has vowed never to work with Ben Affleck.

And the beef between the Oscar winners began with an alleged confrontation between Affleck and Spielberg’s young son.

During a recent appearance on Stephen Baldwin’s “One Bad Movie” podcast, director Mike Binder revealed that he once helped Spielberg develop a movie called Man About Town, which was based on a real-life home invasion at Spielberg’s home.

At one point, Ben was attached to star — but Spielberg slammed on the brakes and revealed that Affleck’s involvement would be a deal breaker for him.

“We make a deal that he’s gonna do it, we shake hands, he’ll do it,” Binder recalled (via The New York Post).

“No. Can’t do it with him,” Spielberg reportedly said. “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.

“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,” Binder recalls Spielberg saying.

The bomb Spielberg seems to have been 2003’s Gigli.

“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,” the director continued.

“I just don’t like to work with him,” he reportedly explained.

“Plus, his last two movies bombed. Find somebody else. Anyone but him. He’s cold as hell.”

Binder says he didn’t tell Affleck the real reason that he was removed from the movie — but Ben figured it out anyway.

“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?’” Binder recounted, adding:

“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.’”

Eventually Binder directed the movie himself … and it went straight to DVD. So a sad ending for all involved.

Look, it’s been an eventful year for Affleck — and we’re sure he doesn’t love that the pool story has resurfaced (pun intended!) just before the holidays.

But he certainly doesn’t have any trouble finding work these days — and we’re sure Ben will make another big splash in 2026!

Steven Spielberg Accused Ben Affleck of Bullying His Young Son: Report was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.