Flummoxed by the healthy trajectory of his co-Oscar winner Matt Damon's career, actor Ben Affleck has come out, but just to complain that his romance with Jennifer Lopez was damaging to an already-tenuous stardom.

In an interview with Details men’s magazine, Affleck said, “You go to a movie, you go only once. But the tabloids and Internet are everywhere…I ended up in an unfortunate crosshair position where I was in a relationship and (the media) mostly lied and inflated a lot of stuff…and I paid a certain price for that. Then, in concert with some movies that didn’t work…” His words, but we’re thinking it.

His romance with the Latin spitfire, whose own career has traveled a rocky road, caused the media to nickname the duo “Bennifer. “ The couple, reeking of excess and ridiculousness made much about a wedding that was suddenly called off at the last minute. Up until then, they were both available to the media everywhere, so whose got whom in their crosshairs is a mystery no one really wants to solve.

Meanwhile, post-breakup, J-Lo married Latin singing star Marc Anthony and are expecting a baby. Ben has fathered a daughter with actress Jennifer Garner.

Affleck, whose movies include Pearl Harbor, Daredevil and 1997’s Good Will Hunting for which he and Damon won Best Screenplay Oscars, is daring to wow us with his directorial debut of Gone, Baby Gone about a girl’s kidnapping in Boston due out in October.

Of course if that title could make a sound, it might the final gasp of a lackluster career.