Some Hollywood feuds are so legendary that people can forgot how they started. That seems to be the case for Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon. The two men’s constant back-and-forth has drawn multiple celebrities into the fold with hilarious songs and skits. The feud has grown rapidly over the years. But Damon made a surprising revelation about his long-running “feud” with Kimmel. He didn’t know who the late-night host was when everything first started.
The two men constantly one-upping each other has given viewers premium content and memes for over a decade. In the beginning, the “feud” was more on Jimmy Kimmel’s end than Matt Damon's. The Stillwater star revealed how the now-famous feud started.
Nobody was watching his show. That was the thing. And people started to call and ask, ‘What’s your connection to this guy?’ And I had never met Jimmy [Kimmel]. He literally pulled my name out of thin air one night. The way he told me the story was that he said ‘I had a ventriloquist and a guy in a gorilla as my guests. And as a throwaway, I said apologies to Matt Damon. We ran out of time.’ He could’ve said Brad Pitt or George [Clooney] or someone else. But he just for some reason, maybe I had a movie out or something, but he just said my name.
But Matt Damon wasn’t done revealing more about the infamous feud. He admitted to The Jess Cagle Show that Jimmy Kimmel’s shout-out changed both their lives over the last 15 years. The Oscar winner did call the whole back-and-forth with Kimmel “fun.” To see Matt Damon’s full take on his tit-for-tat relationship with the late-nigh host, watch the SiriusXM clip below:
Years after their “feud” started, it was nice to finally hear Matt Damon speak on his origins. The fact that Damon didn’t know who Jimmy Kimmel was may throw some viewers for a loop. Kimmel just calling out the actor’s name randomly was odd. But considering Damon’s Hollywood status, the callout made sense at the time. It’s nice to know that the two men can laugh about the unexpected move now.
At the time of the Matt Damon callout, Jimmy Kimmel Live! wasn’t the late-night juggernaut it is now. It was struggling against late-night titans such as David Letterman and Jay Leno to find its place. Kimmel was still shaking the stigma of his run on The Man Show. So, moments like the Damon diss made it a real competitor in the Letterman/Leno-dominated space.
But the Jimmy Kimmel “feud” isn’t the only thing Matt Damon has to think about. Damon has so many projects coming down the pipeline, including his reunion with Ben Affleck in The Last Duel. In the meantime, you can catch the Oscar winner in Stillwater currently in theaters.
