If you’ve missed the last 23 years of pop culture history, then here’s a quick recap: Jimmy and Matt’s pretend beef first started way back in 2003, when Jimmy ended an episode of his late-night talk show by jokingly saying: “Apologies to Matt Damon, but we ran out of time.”
Matt was never actually billed to appear on the show, and Jimmy later told NPR: “We had a bad show…. The guests were bad, and I was feeling pretty bad about myself at the end of the program.”
But the bit immediately became a running gag on Jimmy Kimmel Live, with the host ending his show with the same quip night after night. During an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Matt said that this off-the-cuff moment from Jimmy “changed the rest of [their] lives” as he confirmed that he’d never even met the host prior to that moment.
Three years later, in 2006, Matt was finally booked on Jimmy Kimmel Live for real, and both stars expertly leaned into the gag by having Jimmy end the show right after introducing Matt as his guest. At the time, Matt jokingly started cussing out Jimmy and stormed off stage as the end credits rolled.
The following year, Matt enlisted Jimmy’s then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman to prank him, with Sarah recording a song called: “I’m Fucking Matt Damon,” and the two shooting a music video together that joked about them having a secret sexual relationship behind Jimmy’s back. For what it’s worth, this song ended up winning a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.
Then, in 2009, Jimmy got his own back in truly iconic fashion, calling in Matt’s longtime best friend for the song: “I’m Fucking Ben Affleck,” and an accompanying music video.
These gags have continued in a similar vein throughout the years, and the two men regularly prank one another and publicly poke fun at their “rivalry.”
So, it’s perhaps unsurprising that after Jimmy’s show won a Critics Choice award on Sunday night, Matt didn’t let his big moment go unchecked. And this time, he enlisted Ben to do his bidding.
Ben appeared on Jimmy’s talk show on Tuesday night, and during the interview, he pulled a letter out of his suit jacket and said: “Speaking of Matt, he wanted me to pass on a note he wanted me to share with you, which I thought was very nice.”
As Jimmy reached for the note, Ben swiped it away and said: “I’ll read it.” He then recited: “Dear Jimmy, congratulations on the Critics Choice award. You should have gotten cancelled a long time ago, maybe you would have got sympathy then, and so you could have won more than one minor movie award, like me.”
Trailing off, Ben said: “Anyway, it was a very nice note,” as he handed it to Jimmy, who replied: “No, it wasn’t a nice note, and I’ll take that note and I will save it forever.”
As he ripped the letter into pieces, the host told Ben: “Thank you for bringing that, and I’m sorry you have to even know him.”
Needless to say, people can’t get enough of the ongoing bit, with one of the top comments on a Reddit forum lauding Ben for always being willing to get involved. It read: “Ben always being game to participate in this ‘fight’ is hilarious.”
Amid the playful feud, Jimmy recently revealed that Matt genuinely almost died after he invited him to dinner at his house — and acknowledged how suspicious it would have looked if he accidentally killed Matt Damon.
You can watch Ben read out Matt’s letter to Jimmy below — as always, let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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