Matt Damon believes many celebrities would rather "go to jail than get cancelled because a misdeed will "follow you to the grave".
The 55-year-old actor opened up about cancel culture in a new interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast after the host brought up the idea that "one thing you said or one thing you did" can lead to someone being cast "out of civilization for life".
Damon said: "I bet some of those people would have preferred to go to jail for 18 months or whatever, and then come out and say: 'I paid my debt. Like, we’re done. Like, can we be done?’
"The thing about that getting kind of excoriated, publicly like that, it just never ends. And it will just follow you to the grave."
Damon's The Rip co-star Ben Affleck also weighed in on the notion of being cancelled, comparing it to be cast out of friendship groups at school.
Affleck said: "[It's a] kind of sixth-grade instinct ... Humans have dark, f***** up instincts too sometimes to isolate people or get joy out of someone else’s … they’re in trouble, because maybe because part of it is saying: 'Hey, it’s not me.' So if you can point the finger, everyone’s looking over there, we feel safer, you know?"
Affleck went on to add: "And to take any forgiveness out of it is a really f***** up thing because then it makes it impossible to actually go: 'All right, yeah, I did that. That was wrong. I get it.'
"Because it doesn’t matter; once you’ve said you’ve done it, you become like an outcast. And I don’t think anybody wants to think the sum total of who you are is your worst moment."
It comes after Damon admitted he "was there for" his longtime friend Affleck throughout his personal struggles over the years.
The pair have been pals since childhood and Damon recently opened up about supporting his pal during his battle with alcohol and two divorces - from Jennifer Garner and Jennifer Lopez - admitting he was "there for all of it".
During a joint appearance on The Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM, Affleck talked about "drinking too much" and the host mentioned the actor's two failed marriages before turning to Damon and asking: "Could you go to Ben and say, ‘I’m here to help you?’”
Damon replied: "Oh, yeah, our relationship isn't affected by what people are saying. I was there for all of it."
Affleck then told his pal: "That means a lot to me. That's sort of what a real friend is."
Stern compared the pair's relationship to "a great romance" and Affleck said: "It’s definitely love" and went on to compare it to the plot of Good Will Hunting.
He added: "Especially as a young guy, the really intense love relationships you have with other young men who you’re really loyal to and really close to and who you grew up with, and a lot of times those relationships are lifelong.
"I think as young men at least, we were much more … we understood better how important these pure friendships were, and what they meant to us and how they kind of define your identity as early as high school."
