LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jimmy Kimmel was recently “fake fired” from his talk show ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ as part of a joke written on his opening monologue script while discussing the firings of Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson and CNN’s Don Lemon. However, this is not the first time Kimmel became part of a playful fake scenario. The late night talk show host has long been involved in a fake feud with actor Matt Damon.
It has been nearly two decades since the duo first started pretending to hate each other. However, they have continued to make news for their playful fights. Earlier this year, Damon even dubbed Kimmel a “terrible human being,” days after the latter reignited their fake feud by saying that the ‘Mystic Pizza’ actor “can’t read and smells like dog medicine” during the 2023 Oscars.
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‘He's a demonstrably bad man’
Years after the beginning of their tongue-in-cheek love-hate relationship, Damon and Kimmel had another hilarious exchange at the March premiere Damon’s film ‘Air.’ During a red carpet interview, the actor was asked if he was ready to make amends with Kimmel. Damon jokingly responded to the question saying, “No, no, he's an a**hole. Why would I ever do that? He's a terrible human being. He’s a demonstrably bad man.”
Shortly after, Kimmel walked past behind Damon when the latter turned to towards the host and yelled, “Hey! I'd love to take a picture with you but we ran out of time!” The phrase was in reference to Kimmel’s consistent ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ joke where he apologizes to Damon for running out of time and not being able to include his segment at the end of every episode. At the time, Kimmel responded to Damon’s gag by saying, “You know, I don't know who that was, but yeah, I heard him. He was loud.”
Damon’s comment about Kimmel came just a few days after the latter took a dig at him during the 95th Academy Awards. While hosting the Oscars, Kimmel asked Damon’s co-star Jessica Chastain, “Was it difficult filming your movie ‘The Martian’ because your co-star Matt Damon can’t read and smells like dog medicine?” Chastain laughed and responded to the comedic segment by saying, “I didn’t really have a lot of scenes with him, so it was fine.”
Ahead of the Oscars, Kimmel jokingly told People that he was “thrilled” about the possibility of Damon not attending the awards ceremony. “I'm thrilled that he won't show. I hope he never gets nominated again,” Kimmel said. The talk show host even jokingly blamed Damon for the backstage envelope trouble at the 2017 Oscars, which led to the announcement of the wrong Best Picture winner. “I believe that his presence in some way caused the envelope mixup,” Kimmel joked.
When did Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon’s fake feud start?
Kimmel and Damon’s fake feud began during the third season of Jimmy Kimmel Live! when the host randomly decided to end an episode with the line, “Apologies to Matt Damon, but we ran out of time.” The joke attempted to refer that Damon’s segment was cut off from the show for time constraint when in reality the A-list actor was not scheduled as a guest for the night.
A year after Kimmel’s joke, Damon appeared on the former’s talk show for the first time and kept the joke running. When Damon sat down on the show after a lengthy introduction by Kimmel, the latter cut him off and ended the run for the evening. The actor played along the joke and yelled “I knew you were going to fucking do it! Oh, big funny, big fucking laugh!” as the end credits rolled.
Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon's fight intensified in 2008
Kimmel and Damon’s hilarious fight further intensified in 2008 when the latter involved the host’s then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman in the feud. The latter teamed up with Damon and released a raunchy music video titled, “I’m F***ing Matt Damon.” In the video, Silverman sang, “On the bed, on the floor / On a towel by the door / In the tub, in the car / Up against the mini-bar / I’m f***ing Matt Damon.” Kimmel responded to the clip with his own music video targeting Damon’s close friend, Ben Affleck.
The bad blood continues
Damon and Kimmel’s bad blood continued as the former took over ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ in 2013 while showing the host being held captive and tied with duct tape at the back of the stage. Damon even interview Silverman during the segment. Two years later, Kimmel and Damon even attempted to bury the hatchet by taking up “couples counseling.” The session was documented in a comedic sketch on Kimmel’s show.
Damon again crashed ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ in 2017 dressed as Tom Brady. That same year, Kimmel got back at Damon while hosting the 89th Academy Awards. “Unfortunately, we'll see Matt Damon. Of course, I'm rooting against him,” Kimmel said. “I don't want the film to lose, I want him to lose. I would like him to go home with nothing,” he added while speaking about his fake arch-nemesis’ film ‘Manchester by the Sea’, which was nominated for Best Picture, among other categories that year.
In 2018, Affleck jokingly revealed that he was “Team Kimmel” in the latter’s beef with Damon. The following year, Kimmel recruited Brady to smash a window at Damon’s suburban home. When Kimmel opened his Comedy Club in Las Vegas in 2019, he joked that Damon would never get a chance to enter the establishment. “I'd love to see him do standup. I think it would be a nightmare for him and everyone involved, but he's not going to be doing it at my club because we have a restraining order against him,” the host jokingly told People. “Las Vegas Metro Police are on alert to make sure he never gets in here,” he added.
‘Just can't imagine it happening’
Back in March when Kimmel was asked if he and Damon will resolve their rivalry on his show, the latter replied, “I just can't imagine it happening. I really can’t.” He continued, “I think we have Ben on tomorrow, so we'll have that, but that will be as close as we get.” Damon and Kimmel playfully attacked each other for the cameras during ‘Air’ premiere. The former even flipped off Kimmel at one point. The duo also attempted to look stern when they decided to pose normally for a photo.
