Alanis Morissette called out her former Dogma co-star Ben Affleck on stage in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, revisiting an alleged comment he once made about her sexuality — then playing the clip from their 1999 film in which her character makes his head explode. The moment came on the final night of her Butterfly With a Machete: A Rock Traumedy residency at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California.
During a monologue about the harsh judgments she has faced across her career, Morissette told the crowd: “I’ve even had a guy ask me why I didn’t lead with my sexuality. Thank you, Ben Affleck.” She then played a scene from Dogma, in which she portrayed God and Affleck played the fallen angel Bartleby — her character’s voice kills him in the film. Fan video of the moment spread quickly online, and outlets including Page Six and InStyle picked it up on November 12.
A week after her pansexual reveal
The callout landed just eight days after Morissette publicly revealed that she identifies as pansexual, during an appearance on the Handsome podcast on November 3. Asked by host Fortune Feimster whether the men who had hurt her and inspired her angriest songs had ever made her want to be a lesbian, Morissette replied: “I’m pansexual, so, yeah.” The podcast is hosted by Tig Notaro, Feimster and Mae Martin.
Morissette did not say when Affleck allegedly made the comment, or explain the circumstances of their conversation. Affleck, 54, has not publicly responded to her account, and his representative did not immediately respond to media requests for comment. A similar line about Affleck had also appeared earlier in the residency, according to a November 7 eyewitness review in Los Angeles Magazine, but the final-night performance gave it its widest audience yet.
The residency moves on
Butterfly With a Machete, part concert, part confessional and part stage play, ran for four Los Angeles dates — November 5, 6, 10 and 11 — following an initial run in Las Vegas last year. Morissette is scheduled to bring the production back to Las Vegas in January 2027. Dogma, directed by Kevin Smith and also starring Matt Damon, opened in theatres 27 years ago on November 12, 1999, and has recently had a long-awaited re-release, giving Morissette’s on-stage callback fresh relevance. See also Amanda Seyfried cuddles ex Thomas Sadoski and Florence Pugh to Meta: “No one censors me”.
