Steven Spielberg reportedly refused to work with Ben Affleck following a wild pool party incident in the early 2000s.
Director Mike Binder, during a recent appearance on Stephen Baldwin’s “One Bad Movie” podcast, claimed that Spielberg tanked a potential collaboration after holding a personal grudge against Affleck – and it stemmed from what he described as an awkward encounter involving one of Spielberg’s children.
Binder, 67, said that it all began when he was developing the film “Man About Town,” and Spielberg, 79, expressed interest in directing the project.
“We gotta do something together,” Spielberg reportedly told him. “I want you to write something for me.”
The script was said to be inspired in part by a real-life home invasion at Spielberg’s house, and things appeared to be moving forward until Affleck, 53, signed on to star.
“We make a deal that he’s gonna do it, we shake hands, he’ll do it,” Binder recalled.
But that’s when Spielberg allegedly shut the idea down.
“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.”
Those “other problems,” Binder explained, centered on a poolside story the “Jaws” director shared from a family vacation.
At the time, Affleck was dating the famous filmmaker’s goddaughter, Gwyneth Paltrow. The pair dated on-and-off for nearly three years beginning in 1997, and starred together in “Shakespeare in Love” and “Bounce” before splitting for good in 2000.
“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,” Spielberg reportedly told Binder.
“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,” Spielberg added.
Binder was confused by the famed director’s explanation.
“I just don’t like to work with him,” the “Jurassic Park” director reportedly explained. “Plus his last two movies bombed. Find somebody else. Anyone but him. He’s cold as hell.”
When Binder later told Affleck that the project was no longer happening, the “Good Will Hunting” actor suspected the reason.
“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 told Baldwin during the podcast.
“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,’” he recalled.
Binder ultimately directed “Man About Town” himself after the project fell apart, with the film later going straight to DVD.
Years later, Binder said that he joked with Affleck about the pool party incident when “Argo” beat Spielberg’s “Lincoln” at the 2013 Academy Awards.
“Ben, tonight you could throw Spielberg’s whole family in the pool and get away with it,” he texted the “Justice League” star.
“That made me laugh so f–king hard,” Affleck responded.
The Post has reached out to Affleck and Spielberg’s reps for comment.
