The Jimmy Kimmel–Matt Damon feud is arguably the best running gag to emerge from the late-night show, now suspended indefinitely, a decision that has sparked backlash from fans and figures across Hollywood. From Damon hijacking Kimmel’s Late Night Show to Kimmel joining forces with Tom Brady to break one of Damon’s windows, both have been relentlessly committed to the bit.
While the two in real life don’t bear any animosity, and the feud is mostly for the show, they’ve excelled at maintaining the facade so much so that it’s hard to imagine them without it.
How Did Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon’s Feud Start?
As for how this iconic onscreen feud commenced, it started off with a throwaway on Kimmel’s part back in season 3 of his Late Night Show. During one episode, without any context, the Late Night host concluded things with the line “Apologies to Matt Damon, but we ran out of time”, which became a closing tradition.
According to Damon, like the audience, like fans, he was also taken away by Kimmel’s closing line, adding, “He literally pulled my name out of thin air one night” (via SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle show).
He could’ve said, you know, George [Clooney] ― he could have said somebody else. But he just, for some reason, maybe I had a movie out that week or something, but he just said my name. And it changed the course of both of our lives. We’ve kept this feud going for, you know, it’s gotta be 15 years now. I’ve had a lot of fun doing it.
Fast forward to 2006, Damon finally made his debut on the Late Night Show. However, he was shortly cut off as Kimmel proceeded to end the show.
Sarah Silverman’s “I’m f-cking Matt Damon” Video While Dating Jimmy Kimmel
As a result, Damon stormed off the set, further giving weight to their feud. But it didn’t take The Martian star long to get payback on Kimmel, as he proceeded to get Sarah Silverman, Kimmel’s then-girlfriend, on the joke for the host’s 40th birthday celebration. Together, they made the hilarious song, I’m F-cking Matt Damon, the (fake affair song), which earned Silverman a Primetime Emmy Award.
According to his rep (via People), the actor didn’t think twice before getting on board with the plan after the producers approached him, revealing that Damon had a blast shooting the song alongside Silverman.
Matt Damon Took Over Jimmy Kimmel Live! After Gagging His ‘Enemy’
The diss at Kimmel wasn’t the lone time Sarah Silverman found herself amid the iconic feud. In 2013, she arrived at the late-night show; however, it wasn’t Kimmel who was in the host’s chair. The episode saw Damon hijacking the late-night show, with Kimmel held captive in the back.
Silverman and Damon carried on with the show, while Kimmel sat tied up with duct tape behind the stage. Much of the night was then spent with the duo discussing Silverman’s relationship with the Late Night host as if everything were normal, marking another win for Damon.
Matt Damon and Jimmy Kimmel Fought Again After the Super Bowl
In the following years, the entertaining beef kept getting dragged on, with other notable figures, like Tom Brady and Ben Affleck, also weighing in. Kimmel and Damon even attended couples counselling in a comedic sketch, but it did little to mend things up. In the wake of the New England Patriots’ win at the Super Bowl in 2017, Damon, disguised as Tom Brady, arrived at the Late Night Show.
Even though the Oppenheimer star tried his best to cover up his tracks, he was caught. Brady, this time for real, got involved in the beef after Kimmel tricked him into breaking one of Damon’s windows, prompting an angry outburst on the actor’s part.
Although it has been over two decades since the feud unfolded over a throwaway joke, the two have kept the act up. While Affleck attempted to be the great mediator for the two, this hasn’t stopped Damon and Kimmel from going at each other’s throats.
Whether it’s the former deeming the Late Night host a terrible human being on Air’s red carpet or Kimmel throwing a shade at Damon by having Antomy of a Fall’s dog, Messi, urinating on the actor’s star on Hollywood Walk of Fame. Here’s hoping this feud will continue to stretch for many more years to come, even if the fate of Jimmy Kimmel’s Late Night Show remains uncertain.
Matt Damon will appear next in Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey, which arrives on July 17, 2026.
Drop your favorite moments from the Jimmy Kimmel-Matt Damon saga below!
