One of the quintessential Hollywood “feuds” raging today has to be that between Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon. What began as a simple joke exploded into an ongoing and elaborate "clash," and a recent red carpet event proved that it's still going strong. As the 2023 new movie release Air had its big Hollywood premiere, both Kimmel and Damon were on hand to keep the feud alive with some classic snark coming from either side.
How Matt Damon Played Up His “Feud” With Jimmy Kimmel
Thanks are in order for ET Online, the outlet that instigated this not-so-serious blood feud between both parties involved. Kicking things off with Matt Damon’s side of the table, the Academy Award winner fed this fictitious fire with the following response to whether or not he’d ever want to make amends:
No, no, he's an asshole. Why would I ever do that? He's a terrible human being. He's a demonstrably bad man.
In truth, Matt Damon’s long standing “dislike” of Jimmy Kimmel is a joke that started before Damon even knew the late night host. One off-handed comment about bumping Damon from a Jimmy Kimmel LIve episode led to a storyline that implied that Kimmel was purposely punishing the Air star for some unknown reason.
Jumping back to the premiere of Ben Affleck’s already critically-acclaimed biopic, Matt Damon actually made reference to that specific joke. Shouting at Jimmy Kimmel on the carpet, Damon said he’d take a photo with the comedian, but naturally he was “bumped for time.” Which leads into Mr. Kimmel’s end of the joke, displayed not too long after.
Jimmy Kimmel’s Response To Matt Damon’s Shenanigans
When it came time for Jimmy Kimmel to speak to the same outlet on the Air red carpet, he wasn’t shy about playing along. Taking his turn slinging fake mud for the fans at home, The Man Show alum even made this contribution to a theory that Damon was the man in the Cocaine Bear suit at the 2023 Academy Awards:
You know, I don't know who that was, but yeah, I heard him. He was loud. … Did he say he wasn't the bear? He was the bear. And totally full of cocaine.
Much like the historic “feud” between Ryan Reynolds/Hugh Jackman, Matt Damon and Jimmy Kimmel’s dispute is nothing but comedy gold. As the stakes continue to rise and the pranks continue to keep it in the public eye, there’s no telling where or when this spat will go next. It’s unpredictable, and pleasantly so, as both combatants are clearly far from out of steam.
While the feud between Damon and Kimmel is fictitious, the premiere of Air is not. Heading to theaters in a sneak preview screening this week, the sports biopic will make its full debut in theaters on April 5th. Eventually, Prime Video subscribers will be able to catch the film at home, but with Amazon’s more traditional theatrical release plan in play, we don’t exactly know when that’ll happen.
