Damon-Kimmel Feud

In 2005, Kimmel, who at this point had never met Damon, ended his show by saying "Apologies to Matt Damon, but we ran out of time". Kimmel later explained "We had a bad show. ... The guests were bad, and I was feeling pretty bad about myself at the end of the program. And I decided to say, for the amusement of one of our producers who was standing next to me...Matt Damon was just the first name that popped into my head. I was trying to think of an A-list star, and somebody we absolutely would not bump if he was on the show." Seeing the amusement of his producers, Kimmel continued the trend of ending his show with the same comment.[2]

In 2006, the two played further into the gag when Damon made his first guest appearance on Kimmel by way of Kimmel introducing Damon just to quickly cut him off and end the show. As a result, Damon began cussing at the host and stormed off the stage, with many fans believing the interaction to be genuine.[1]

In 2007, after Damon was asked to return to the show, he instead asked comedian (and Kimmel's then-girlfriend) Sarah Silverman to take his place and had Kimmel play a music video starring herself and Damon in which the two joke about being in a sexual relationship, effectively "exposing" Silverman as cheating on Kimmel with Damon.[3] The video holds a 8/10 rating on IMDb.[4]

The feud was further developed in 2013 when, to the surprise of many, Damon was the host of an episode of Kimmel as Kimmel himself is seen in the background duct taped to his chair with his tie acting as a gag.[5]

Damon reappeared on Kimmel in 2015, where himself and Kimmel ran a sketch in which they attended couples' counseling in a satirical attempt to "resolve their issues". This episode did not end with Kimmel's routine apology to Damon.[6]

In 2016, Damon made his first successful attempt at "sneaking" on to the set of Kimmel when Kimmel sat down to interview Damon's childhood friend and long-time collaborator Ben Affleck. Affleck takes the stage wearing a long and bulky coat, and when Kimmel insists that Affleck takes the jacket off, Damon is revealed to have been inside.[7]

On a Kimmel episode following Super Bowl LI in 2017, Damon once again "snuck" onto the show's set, this time posing as former New England Patriots player Tom Brady. Despite trying to stay in character, Damon's identity was confirmed when Kimmel took off his football helmet.[8]

During a 2017 interview with Good Morning America, Kimmel, who was set to host that year's Academy Awards, stated that he hoped Damon would not receive the award for Best Picture, for which film Manchester By The Sea, produced by Damon, had been nominated.[9] At the ceremony, Affleck and Damon presented the award for Best Original Screenplay, though Kimmel introduced Damon as Affleck's guest and attempted to play the presenter off stage by conducting the orchestra.[10]

Later that year, Damon made an unscheduled appearance on Kimmel once again by "hacking" Kimmel's display and interrupting an interview with Chris Hemsworth.[11]

After a circulation of memes implying that Damon was "replacing" Affleck with Hemsworth, Affleck called onto the long-running feud by tweeting: "Hey [Hemsworth], you can have [Damon]! I'm team [Kimmel] anyways"[12]

In a 2019 episode of Kimmel, Kimmel enlisted the help of the real Brady to throw a football through a window of Damon's home. Damon stormed out and question Kimmel, who feigned ignorance to the fact that the home belonged to Damon.[13]

The same year, after Kimmel's comedy club opened in Las Vegas, the host made reference to the long-running feud in an interview, saying "I'd love to see [Damon] 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. Las Vegas Metro Police are on alert to make sure he never gets in here."[1]

In 2023, Kimmel, once again set to host that year's Oscars, stated "I'm thrilled that [Damon] won't show. I hope he never gets nominated again." Then, in reference to the Best Picture announcement error at the 2017 Oscars, said "I believe [Damon's] presence somehow caused the envelope mix up" [14]

On the red carpet premiere of the Damon-lead film Air, Damon was asked if he would ever make amends with Kimmel, to which he responded "No, no. He's an asshole. Why would I ever do that? He's a terrible human being. He's a demonstrably bad man." That same evening, when Kimmel appeared on the carpet, Damon yelled to him: "Hey! I'd love to take a picture with you, but we ran out of time!", in reference to Kimmel's famous apology to Damon. Kimmel responded by saying to Entertainment Weekly "You know, I don't know who that was, but yeah, I heard him. He was loud."[15]

While promoting Air in 2023, Affleck, the film's director, made an appearance on Kimmel in which he attempted to unite the two celebrities by making a FaceTime call to Damon. Kimmel agreed to ask Damon a question about his role in Air, but when Damon began to respond, the host faked technical difficulties with the call and repeatedly froze the screen on unflattering views of Damon's face.[16]

Since the feud began in 2005, many celebrity news outlets have covered the fake animosity between the two. This has resulted in many articles explaining the feud and some fans wondering whether the rivalry is legitimate.[17] Despire this, the pair have, on certain occasions, dropped the act and revealed themselves as friends, leading many to dub the two as "frenemies".

In 2023, in light of the WGA strike, Kimmel revealed that Damon and Affleck offered to pay his staff, though Kimmel turned them down.[18]