Jimmy Kimmel says Ben Affleck and 'despicable' Matt Damon offered to pay his staff amid writers' strike
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How you like them apples? Jimmy Kimmel says his pals Ben Affleck and Matt Damon offered to pay his staff amid the writers' strike.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live host revealed the news on the debut episode of his Strike Force Five podcast with fellow late-night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver, which launched this week to benefit the comedians' out-of-work staffs. (All proceeds from the show will go to their employees.)
"Ben Affleck and the despicable Matt Damon contacted me and offered to pay our staff for two weeks," Kimmel said on Wednesday's episode, alluding to his long-standing fake feud with Damon. "A week each, they wanted to pay out of their own pockets our staff."
"Our staff or your staff?" Colbert asked, prompting Kimmel to chuckle and clarify that the offer only pertained to his staff.
Fallon called the duo "good people" in response.
B Lacroix/WireImage; Todd Williamson/Getty Images Jimmy Kimmel; Matt Damon and Ben Afflek
Kimmel said he declined the offer because he "felt that that was not their responsibility." To which Meyers quipped, "Could it be transferable?"
"Could you just say yes and then give your money to us?" Colbert added.
A representative for Affleck and Damon did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment.
The Writers Guild of America went on strike in May after it did not reach contract agreements with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major studios and streamers. SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents actors and other media professionals, followed suit in July after they did not match their own contract negotiations.
"This is like a vacation in the same way a colonoscopy is like a nap," Colbert joked on Wednesday's podcast episode. The hosts also touched on how they are going a little nuts, with Kimmel revealing that he was actually planning to retire before the strikes.
"Are you guys getting stir-crazy? Are you ready to go back to work?" Kimmel asked. "Because as you know, I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started, and now I realize, like, 'Oh, yeah, it's kinda nice to work.' You know, when you are working, you think about not working."
Meyers then questioned the legitimacy of his claims, calling Kimmel the "Tom Brady of late-night hosts" because he has "feigned retirement" so many times. But Kimmel was adamant that he was "very, very serious" about moving on.
Listen to the first episode of the hosts' new podcast below.
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