Matt Damon has a new profile in The Hollywood Reporter. They mention his career resurgence, at 44, as The Martian comes out this week and the latest Bourne installment is in production. Damon never really went away though, despite some minor misses like We Bought a Zoo and Promised Land. His return to the Bourne franchise isn’t as much of a comeback as his buddy Ben Affleck’s Best Picture win, as Damon never sunk to Affleck’s depths. Much of that was due to Affleck’s very public romance with Jennifer Lopez, whom he famously ditched just a few days before their scheduled wedding in 2004. The way Affleck tells it, he was unfairly characterized by the media and had no control over his public image. It’s not shocking that Damon shares that opinion:
On Ben Affleck
“There’s nobody who’s more misunderstood. Ten years ago, the public image of him could not have been farther apart from who he actually is. It was like he was being cast in a role, that he was a talentless kind of meathead, with his whole relationship with Jennifer Lopez. He just got cast as this person that he wasn’t. It was just really painful. It was painful to be his friend, because it wasn’t fair, you know? To my mind, nobody really got him at all. And through his work, he climbed from the bottom of the mountain all the way back up to the top and past where either of us had ever been.”On #Damonsplaining diversity on Project Greenlight
“There was some context taken out.” [When he saw the final cut] “I went, ‘Oh my God, I look like an asshole.’ I thought it was a really insensitive thing to say.”On his youth
“I had a terrible temper. I mean, like, a problematic temper. I still get riled up and competitive.”On Donald Trump
“I’ve never met him. But when people are talking about putting a wall up, I just can’t take them seriously. I can’t. It seems so un-American. We have people running for the highest elected office talking about putting a wall up that would keep my wife and her family out of the country, you know?”He supports Hillary Clinton for President
“I love Elizabeth Warren, but she’s not running for president.”On his criticism of President Obama
“We talked about it, and look, even when I was giving him shit, he’s somebody who thinks so deeply about everything he does. I don’t ever question that it’s coming from the right place with him. He’s a remarkable human being and shockingly easy to be around. He’s incredibly approachable and doesn’t beat you up with his station, though he could.”On meeting his wife and getting married
“I remember thinking, in my early 30s, that I wouldn’t [get married], you know? I didn’t think it was going to happen for me. My brother found his soul mate very young; he’d just turned 26 when they were married. He’d been married for 10 years by the time I even met my wife, and I looked at this really happy, wonderful marriage and kind of went, ‘I guess that’s not going to happen for me.’ And then it did.”On his kids
“I heard once, you spend all of this time trying to protect your heart, and then you have kids, and it’s like you put it in their bodies and send them out into the world, and you can’t possibly know everything that comes with that. It’s a very, very different way to be in the world.”
Ben Affleck’s life is perfect tabloid fodder. He rubbed his famous girlfriend’s booty in her music video, bought her a $2.5 million pink diamond engagement ring, did joint interviews with her, and co-starred with her in one of the worst movies of all time. Then, just a few days before the wedding, he cheated on her with strippers in Vancouver. This summer he cheated on his wife with a nanny who was living with his family. I get that Damon wants to defend his friend, but it’s so off base to claim that Affleck is more misunderstood than anyone. We’ve seen the things he does. Affleck may talk a good game and he may not be “talentless” per se, but the press is just judging him by his actions.
We’re also judging Damon by the things he says and it’s clear that his liberal politics don’t always translate to liberal beliefs. He is an incredible actor though and he has both comedic and dramatic talent I’ll give him that. This week Damon did a faux couples therapy session with Jimmy Kimmel where they discussed their ongoing gag in which Damon is always scheduled but never interviewed. He also did “role call” with James Corden, with the two of them acting out scenes from his all his movies in eight minutes.
Header image is from November, 2014. Other photo of Ben and Matt is from August. Candids are from this week. Credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet
I just love these fellas in spite of Ben’s ignorant views he aired on Maher’s show. May all of us have such a tight friendship in our life.
Maher is a major islamaphobe and thats the agnostic (leaning heavily on atheist) in me talking. Its one thing to call out specific beliefs and another to disparage an entire religion, Mayer does the latter. Thats pretty much the ONLY “Ben scandal” in which I have his back.
Preach. Ben went up a few points in my book after taking on Maher and standing up for what’s right.
That said. I’m ready to retire ‘that’s enough john Mayer,’ and switch to ‘that’s enough Matt Damon.’
He’s stuck his foot in it there times, now much like Affleck he’s trying to blame J.Lo for Ben’s more than a decade long slump. J.Lo had nothing to do with Daredevil, or He’s Not that Into You, or that movie with Russell Crowe that bombed…I could go on and on. Its great he turned it around, but he’s still not that great an actor. His appeal is not great. He does way better on screen as a guy you don’t trust or dislike. Lol
Exactly. Maher is a bigot.
I got into an altercation with some people who happened to Muslims at my local supermarket the other day. It went on for about twenty minutes and involved the intervention of the shopping centre security on three occasions. The argument spilt out into the car park and while I was arguing with one Muslim guy a second one came over to support him and then a Muslim woman came over and started filming me with her iPhone. I guess she thought that it would intimidate me. Or maybe she was hoping for a gotcha moment. Who knows? Now my suburb has a large Muslim population in fact you could say that it is a predominantly Muslim suburb. So at one stage while I’m arguing with the first guy the second one says “Just stop. Everyone here is on his side. It’s our area” “What do you mean it’s our area?” I replied. He smirked and said “What do you think?” i responded by saying “That’s a bit racists isn’t it?” He then called me a convict because of my anglo heritage. I responded again by saying “At least I’m not racist.” I then got into my car and left. The fact is, even though the majority of residents in my suburb are Muslims the local shopping centre is not a Muslim area. It’s a public area and it’s not under the authority of the local Muslim community. It’s under the authority of our state and federal governments. The lesson for me though is that sometimes we have to consciously make the effort to not be racist because whether I like it or not whenever you have heated conflict with people from a different race there’s usually a degree of racial tension there coming from one or both parties and you can either choose to let it go or exacerbate it.
I think you’re all being a little unfair on lolp (and Maher, for that matter). Ben Affleck was utterly obnoxious on that episode: talking over Sam Harris the moment he sat down and not letting anyone else get a word in edgewise.
The irony was that Maher and Harris’ position was simply: why is it that Islam is completely off-limits when it comes to criticizing religion? Everything else is fair game, but if you suggest that there are some problems in Muslim communities that need to be addressed, well-meaning liberals shout “bigot!” and “Islamophobe!” at you.
And yes, I’m about as far-left as you can get AND an atheist. I am just uncomfortable with the lack of critical thinking on this issue, particularly in western democracies where everything else is fair game.
@Kath …
Agreed, and well said.
Umm no, it was Maher that came out looking like a complete bigoted, ignorant *sshole. I actually gained a lot of respect for Ben after the show.
Lol are you serious? Maher is a complete jerk.. Ben came off the best in that “argument”, at least the most sane.
I’ve never seen Ben in interviews before but after that Maher interview I’ve gained major respect for him. Maher is a closeminded bigot, and that’s coming from someone who’s a left wing liberal.
Wait, what views? I saw him going after Maher for bashing Muslims. Did he say something else that night? Unless you mean that his defense of Muslims is the problem? I certainly hope that the latter option is not what you meant.
Matt, I really like you but you need to STFU for a little while.
Exactly what I was thinking! He seems like a great guy but in the last couple weeks of interviews his image is plummeting IMO. I just keep thinking “Shut.Your.Mouth.”
Damon, now’s the time to shut it. You’re getting to be annoying.
‘Getting to be annoying?’ He already is…..
Shut up, shut up, shut up!
Really? I thought this was super sweet.
@Nic …
So did I. There is nothing offense in anything quoted above from Matt’s interview (I especially loved the part about his brother finding his soulmate early and how Matt thought he’d never find his) It seems like they didn’t even ‘read’ the article, they just saw it was about Matt Damon and hopped right in with the hate.
I find it charming that both Matt and his brother are children of divorce, yet they both grew up with a belief in ‘soulmates’ and true love. Awesome. 🙂
I like them both even through Ben’s messy personal life.
I like that they remained close friends since young days.
Can’t wait for Matt’s film The Martian. I would go see Matt in anything , he is a really good actor.
@Evermore ….
Yes to everything you said. 🙂
#afflecklivesmatter
LOL
Matt maybe you should be more like your famous character Jason Bourne and be silent with a memory loss.
Stop defending your d bag friend and stop putting the blame of JLo for something she didn’t do.
I just remembered her cringeworthy “surprise” guest appearances on Project Greenlight season 1. People are in an intense production meeting and on cue, JLo saunters down the stairs all glammed up and a “dont mind little me” apology on her lips. Or when Ben visits the set and there she is , all done up and in some fancy old Hollywood get up, conveniently miked and ready for a chat with one of the little people. Ben and Jlo masterminded that whirlwind together, neither should get a pass.
JLO is alway do up that’s who she is and never pretended to be anything else. Secondly no one forced Ben to be with her, act the way hedid when with her or get engaged to her.
JLO living a glamorous lifestyle is excuse for Ben to cheat on her with a stripper let alone anyone else.
I would never blame one party for being cheated on, where did you get that?
I was saying that both Ben and Jlos fame whore reputations were deserved, and pointing out how transparent and awkward her staged cameos were on that show. She is the only significant other of the producers to ever appear and each time she did, she was bringing old Hollywood glam to Tshirt and jeans production meetings. And since she had nothing to do with the show or film being made, her only job was to be filmed holding her “power player” boyfriends hand and look like a glam diva, in other words to push brand Bennifer. And thats just one example.
So nobody can type the line dont “blame her for something she didnt do” with a straight face. They obviously planned and executed their fame whoring together.
What’s so tough to understand? He drinks, gambles, and screws around with the nanny
Jlo being thrown under the bus again
yes…not nice. I really think that underneath the public layer that Matt Damon tries to sell there’s a huge misogynist douche. What fault does Jlo has that Ben Affleck is all kinds of mess??! And it’s not the first time that Damon throws shade at the women involved with Ben Affleck…I wish he would just shut up!
“Ten years ago, the public image of him could not have been farther apart from who he actually is”
Thats so true, ten years ago he was cheating with strippers, now he is cheating with the nanny. He is taking bigger risks like most addicts.
They need to leave Jlo out of this, his public image is not her fault.
He was on a chat show years ago with a blonde model in the UK and she got a little mixed up in what she was saying. He turned round and said to her don’t worry honey nobody’s listening anyway. From then I always thought once a frat boy, always a frat boy. Dumping Minnie Driver on Oprah not a good look either.
I found his acknowledgement of a “problematic” temper interesting.
Clearly Matt did not like JLo and didn’t like the person his friend became when he was with her. Much easier to blame her as the “evil girlfriend” than to admit that maybe his friend kinda sucks. That’s loyalty right there, and hardly an uncommon reaction.
Ugh I see this with men all the time, blaming the “big, bad girlfriend.” Terrible
Affleck and friends are obsessed with her. She has moved on. But they are all stuck in the past and can’t accept his role in the debacle.
Exactly, it’s all the bad Latina temptresses fault. You know how those big butty WOC are like right? Notice how many times the media allows but Affleck and Damon to disparage both Jlo and the gossip media but Affleck is NEVER asked a follow up question about his cheating on Jlo with strippers or him breaking off the engagement and embarrassing her.
If she looked more like Goop and less ethnic, Jlo’s feelings would be taken into account by the press. Only certain groups of women are allowed to be delicate flowers and protected everyone else doesn’t matter. I bet if they called him on this and brought up his maltreatment of Jlo he will stop talking about this sh$$ and say “it’s a personal matter”.
His wife looks amazing. Man, I need to start working out.
(I’m not going to touch Matt Damon’s comments because despite a poor choice of words, I get what he’s saying and where he’s coming from.. I think he’s wrong about a bunch of things – Ben Affleck, diversity, sexuality in his profession – but I can’t get upset over him speaking from his point of view. Let’s just hope he realizes his point of view is very skewed by privilege.)
For a second I thought the woman next to him was an old pic of Halle Berry. Damn his wife looks great!!
Thinking the same thing. I like her casual look much better than RC look.
OMG STFU, Part Three. We’re on a roll today.
I’m just about sick of them crapping all over JLo, like the fact that she was famous and lived a lavish glamorous lifestyle was an excuse to cheat on her. It’s dehumanizing in a way. Her feelings aren’t as important as other people’s feelings because she wears velour? Jennifer Garner and Gwyneth Paltrow are just as image conscious and fame hungry as JLo; they just disguise it, whereas Jennifer has always owned it.
Yeah, I agree. Why do they keep bringing her up after all this time? Is it because she is Latina? I understand that his public personal took a hit but he is a big boy. He chose to walk the red carpet looking like an overly styled goof. He chose to rub his hands all over her in her video. As I recall, Gwyneth has said some pretty disparaging things about him. Why don’t they come for her? Hey Matt, why don’t you explain those comments away that Gwyneth made? Now on a more shallow note, wife’s body is banging. Must get to gym.
Exactly!!! Just my opinion but Jlo is a victim of stereotyping as a Latina women. So she never got any sympathy for the way Ben humiliated on her before the wedding. Whereas people are chomping at the bit to defend Jen Garner.
Yeah, there does seem to be a tinge of racism in the way they dismiss JLo. I can’t pinpoint it exactly, but it’s just a sense, just a feeling, like they just don’t respect or care that they drag her through the mud and make fun of her when it was Ben that cheated on her and humiliated her.
It sort of reminds me of Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. He left her out to dry without a scrap of concern, like she didn’t matter, like only his reputation mattered.
@ Original Tessa- No, you’re absolutely right on both points. It makes me very uncomfortable reading quotes like that because it’s so dismissive. Where is Ben’s responsibility in this? Not to mention it’s 10 years later and he’s still pulling the same crap on his S.O., so who’s really at fault.
Here here! The only thing I give JLo a hard time over is her taste in men. But I’ll take her over the sanctimonious Jen garner or Gwyneth any day!
Not a JLo fan at all but I agree with you so much. So tired of Affleck and now Damon taking potshots at her. It’s tacking and disrespectful.
They arent saying that it justified cheating on her, Ben and Matt always conveniently forget the stripper part of the narrative. For them the problem was not infidelity (they could be right, actors cheat all the time without experiencing career slumps). The problem was that Ben lost credibility during that time and they think it was because of the Kardashian-like media coverage. Heres the thing though, Ben was a co-conspirator in crafting that image. He only acts like it was all her idea because he is just mad that they werent touted as the new Burton and Taylor.
Ben roots for number one. Believe me, if Garner hadnt swooped in with family pap walks to rescue him from the nanny, he would throwing HER under the bus a few years from now. Probably pulling the Jesse James angle, “she knew it was a lie but didn’t publicly defend me and it ruined me”
You hit the nail on the head with the credibility issue. The overexposure that came from Ben’s relationship with Jennifer – from “Bennifer” and “Jenny from the Block” – really hurt Affleck’s appeal. He suffered professionally for it. It seems like Damon has a sore spot against Lopez for the role she played in that without owning the fact that Affleck himself cultivated an image that was distinctly unlikeable.
Hard lesson to learn for Affleck, though.
#damonsplaining. He should really quit while the hole isn’t any deeper.
I went from appalled but slightly hopeful, to simply appalled, to now hoping he does keep talking. I want him to keep digging that hole. For one thing, it’s showing everyone how out-of-touch and ol’ boys club Hollywood still is. For another, this last one is actually making me laugh, and I want to see him say more ludicrous things. How low can he go?
I think both of them are extremely talented, that’s never in question at least in my book. Ben Affleck is his own worst enemy. It’s like he can’t help himself and I feel he gets a thrill from f*cking up and working to get himself out of the hole and on top again. The only difference is that he won’t have Jennifer Garner to help him. I thought Matt Damon was more intelligent than to give outrageous interviews where he sounds like a privileged d*ck. I guess one learns something new everyday!
I agree. They’re both talented and I’ve enjoyed a lot of their work.
This is why I tend not to read or listen to celebrity interviews unless they are talking about their work. We always think they’re so much more intelligent, worldly and knowledgeable than they really are and it’s always such a letdown. Many of these people barely made it through high school, why in the world are we expecting them to be anything they’re not? They are incredibly wealthy, privileged, sheltered people who live much differently than we do and see the world from a completely different perspective.
Wow, who knew dating a hot, rich, famous pop singer madly in love with you could be such a freaking tragedy?
Well, it is if it’s J-Lo we’re talking about. Everybody knows she loves dirtbags, so getting her mark of approval IS tragic. Don’t think that’s quite what Matt meant though…
I really wish he would stop talking about his wife and family, where’s the mystery? Oh wait only if you’re gay you’re not meant to speak about it….
I’m starting to think that Matt Damon is the most misunderstood, because I had thought that he was a really great/nice guy. And he is coming off as a tool. Affleck, on the other hand, I know who that guy is.
+1000
This! I think he sounds sexist sometimes.
Yeah, Affleck is not a complicated person.
He is a very loyal friend. To the point of attempting to rewrite history, it seems.
Did anyone force Ben to appear in a video, a movie, and drive around town in a Bentley with his GF? He seemed a willing participant.
gee, I remember when Ben Affleck said that about JLo. She didn’t put a gun to his head and force him to be with her. Damon is insufferable and needs to shut his mouth already. He’s way too impressed with himself and his “deep” thoughts.
More Mattsplaining. Oh, goody. How about do us all a favor and STFU? Goodness gracious. More excuse making for a grown man, who made the decision to pursue a married JLo, date her, star in her video, rub oil on her a$$, get engaged to her and cheat on her with some random stripper, but let’s blame his bad press on her.
Is he saying his wife is an illegal immigrant?
Matt needs to stop talking. I used to think he was so smart and a good guy. Now, not so much.
Luciana was an illegal immigrant? She entered the US by land through Mexico?
I always thought she went by plane like thousands of Argentineans and tried to be as legal as possible.
Right? I thought that too. :/
This nation is a nation of LAWS. I have to play by the rules and citizens do too. I will go to jail/be fined/ lose job, etc… if I don’t live by the law. So, it is not so outrageous that we should have a LEGAL SYSTEM for admitting people to the country. Since MILLIONS of people are disregarding the law, we need a wall to get control of the situation on our southern border with Mexico. It is out of control. It is not just people looking for a better life that are crossing over unchecked, it is drug cartels,criminals, drugs, human trafficking and terrorists too. It is irresponsible not to control access into the country. It is possible to advocate an enforceable, immigration system (including a wall) AND not hate immigrants. there needs to be an immigration system to bring the good people here and keep the bad from exploiting a permeable border. Matts wife and her family could come legally. Is this really so hard to comprehend? I’m just shocked at the knee jerk reaction that border control and legal immigration is met with “you hate immigrants!”. Really.
Criminals are always seen as victims so people always feel pity towards them.
The “wall” the US is currently talking about is between America and Canada. Because you know we Canadians are invading the US illegally all the time…stealing your jobs….robbing your 7-11’s…that sort of stuff. But we’re polite about it, we always apologize to people we rob and then thank them.
Who exactly determines who is a “good immigrant” and who is a “bad immigrant”? You? Santa Claus?
GMAFB
Matt is so pretentious. I love the part of the interview where he talks about the president. He’s trying to make it look like they’re buddies. Like he has the president on speed dial.
Exactly. I laughed at that part too. SO pretentious.
He name drops in almost all his interviews.
Eh. I still think he’s fun to watch in movies and he can be really charming but I never put him on a pedestal so I’m not as let down as some posters here by his remarks.
I’ve said it before he’s on Goop level of name dropping. They love to tell people who they know and often times throwing some shade there way.
Ben’s not misunderstood. He’s a self-absorbed cheater with an addictive personality who’s his own worst enemy.
Can Matt (and Ben) stop dumping on Jennifer Lopez and rewriting history? I’m not much of a fan of Jennifer really but this is ridiculous. It’s been a decade. Let it go. He was an equal participant in the PR parade and loved being thought of as half of a Hollywood IT power couple until it backfired on him. And nothing she did back then remotely earned him the right to cheat on her and humiliate her in the way he did.
His acting career wasn’t doing that hot even before he started dating JLo. She wasn’t box office poison to his career. His own choices were. He wanted to be a hunky leading man and had been taking the hero roles in action-type films (Sum of All Fears, Changing Lanes, Pearl Harbor, Daredevil). Most of those films didn’t exactly set the box office on fire IIRC. Except for maybe Daredevil, those films were done before he ever started dating JLo. Taking those roles was his decision.
And JLo had nothing to do with Ben torpedoing his current relationship with Jennifer Garner and their family with his selfish cheating ways with the nanny and the gambling and whatever else he did.
I agree with you 100% and I don’t even like JLO.
I’m no JLo fan, either, but these attempts to rewrite history by blaming her bug me. You summed up the real story very well.
I kinda think he’s trying to take some of the negative attention off Ben, at this point.
I think it’s more that the public is seeing how much alike Matt and Ben really are.
How is Affleck misunderstood? I don’t understand what the public is misinterpreting? Is there some legitimate and valid reason that will explain that it is alright for him to cheat, gamble, do drugs (allegedly) and drink – all excessively? We are misunderstanding that he is a good honourable person/catch despite all of these vices?
He cheated on his wife REPEATEDLY, accusing her of having impossible expectations for him and nagging him. I suspect those expectations were to be faithful, come home sober and not lose everything at the casinos. If she was constantly nagging him I bet it was over these issues and who wouldn’t nag their partners over those vices? If those were her expectations, I don’t think they were unrealistic or ones that a wife of any partner with any of these addictions wouldn’t have.
He did the same things 10 years ago and now is repeating them again. So much for live and learn! There is no “misunderstood Ben” – everyone is pretty clear on what kind of guy he is!
Don’t forget he cheated on Goop too.
The most misunderstood? Really now?
Didn’t he just say that actors should retain some kind of mystery?
He needs to take his own advice. The more he speaks the more he comes across as some over privileged out of touch member of the 1%.
And I really like him.. So please take your own advice Matt before I unlike you…
He’s still trying to suggest that there’s further context, but effing finally he at least admitted it was an insensitive comment. Oh my god that’s literally all it would have taken. At least a little self reflection. I’m glad he’s acknowledging Bens success too because it felt for a long time that he was a bit petty. FTR I don’t think Affleck is a degenerate OR a misunderstood man. He’s just got a lot of issues and he needs to deal with them properly/grow up. I actually liked this interview. I’m a bit surprised with everyone hating on it. I thought it was fairly inoffensive (especially lately)….but I gotta say I also love it.
Also is this really a career resurgence? The dude has always been working he’s never been overlooked for work (no merit given). I mean his rep never really took a hit. He’s had some box office success. Is it only a career when you have billion dollar hits all the time? He was always a bankable star. Now I get why he was petty about Ben and only now willing to acknowledge Bens success. He felt his career was in a down swing.
Edit: Nvm read the JLO mention. Yeah that left a bad taste in my mouth too.
He will bat up for his work bc of his ego then turn around and bend a hooker. His artistry sucks all around…
Well, can they really be this tight as friends and not share some other similarities? That’s where my mind goes…
They’re obviously hanging around a lot of people who agree with their way of seeing things or they would have told them to stop mentioning Jennifer Lopez five years ago. For all their mentioning her and Ben she rarely has. It looks a lot like discretion and not throwing people under a bus because public opinion might let you get away with it the first ten times. People are also getting tired of Ben blaming Bennifer 1.0 on his poor self image particularly when it was ended by yet another humiliating infidelity on his part, as pretty much all of his relationships seem to end at this point.
That’s not misinterpretation or misunderstanding that’s what he’s actually done, and it’s very odd if he can’t allow himself to accept that and understand that other people can see it too.
Damon is digging a hole for himself, he might want to stop talking before all the public goodwill he’s had before now dries up before Bourne 5 comes out. His agent might want to get on that.
It’s a good old boy world and therefore it can’t be the man’s choices that are accountable for ugly consequences, right? There has to be some woman who led them astray? It all started with Eve… Ugh.
What a douche.
If this is Matt’s take on Ben’s past history and the dilemma he was in, it would be interesting to know Matt’s take on Ben’s current dilemma, interesting he is talking about Ben being misunderstood 10 years ago and does not even hint at what’s going on with Ben right now. He doesn’t address the divorce or the nanny at all, but regurgitates history from 10 years ago.
Hey Matty is Ben being misunderstood again for banging the Nanny and the others that all of the blinds have hinted at over and over again? Is he being misunderstood for gambling and drinking (which he went to rehab for)?
Interesting in an interview he gave years ago Affleck said he was particularly interested in scripts where the sins of the father were past down. Looks like he followed in his father’s footsteps and he is trying desparately not to have his kids think of him as he did of his own father. They were estranged for years, but have a relationship of sorts again. Reportedly he blamed his father for leaving his Mom and being an alcoholic and wanted nothing to do with him for years. Now he did the same thing to Jennifer and his family.
ForBA to even recognize how like his father is his behavior, he would first have to truly take responsibility and see it for how it is. Maybe he will. It seems his dad finally recognized his issues and dealt with them. Hope he does.
Maybe Matt is right and we don’t understand Ben, but sorry, he seems like a douche to me. Even in pictures. Especially pictures of him with the babysitter and Blake Lively. He seems like the kind of man that is lead around by his penis, who flirts with all the young pretty girls everywhere he goes. Ben comes off like Peter Pan to me.
I could be totally off, but this is the image that I feel that he puts out there.
On one hand, I’m really put off by him throwing JLO under the bus. On the other hand, I’m wondering why all of the people in Ben’s life were so staunchly against them being together.
No Matt, we know him very well. Too well as a matter of fact.
It sounds like he was talking in the context of Ben being considered not very smart, a meathead, when he knew differently, and it ended up, as he said, his success has surpassed what both of them had achieved before.. I don’t think he was talking about Ben and screwing around. I think he was talking , as he has before, about Ben being a rag mag fixture and career bottoming out. He does tend to forget it wasn’t all the big bad media, that Ben brought some of it onto himself. But I think he was still talking about the Ben he knew, very intelligent and talented..
He still has been talking in circles again.
I don’t get why people aren’t focusing more on his name-dropping the president and going on and on about that. That’s the most eyeroll-worthy thing of the interview.
Ben has an Oscar for best movie I do not think he is misunderstood in terms of his talent. In fact I would suggest he is a little bit overrated. There are better more orginial directors than him that havent got oscars.
I think Matt is talking about bens public persona.
I think matt is liberal in one sense, but it’s very clear that in terms of women, gays and ethnic minorities his statements of late has been very unfortunate.His dumping on jlo so long after they split up smacks of misogyny and possible unintended racism ( ignorance).
Exactly why I can’t stand him. Matt Damon is the representation of THAT guy who says he believes all these things but on the most superficial level to sate his own ego and make sure he’s not THOSE guys. You know the type. But he doesn’t dig deeper. He’s incapable of hearing criticism and introspection. He still talks over others not because he thinks he’s necessairly better (at least openly) but because he doesn’t/refuses/can’t see past his own privilege. He wants the credibility without really doing the really hard work of realizing how you yourself can perpetuate an unfair system. And unfortunately, he gets that cred for doing the bare min.
+1, korra. One of those guys who thinks we all should fall at his feet for not being as bad as he could have been.
It’s sweet that he is such a loyal friend and I envy their bond. That said, you can’t bring up a ridiculous relationship from 2002 to justify Ben’s current situation. What does Jenny From the Block have to do with him banging his kids’ live-in nanny? He is not misundertstand. He is a selfish deviant who got busted. And nobody says he is completely without talent. Sure, he has some talent, but again, what does that have to do with his lack or morals, lying & sneaking, hooking up with fame-ho actresses, etc.? Nothing. I think I understand him well. He’s a douche. A fair actor who in his personal life, is a douche.
Jennifer, i love how you summarize Ben’s persona. That is how exactly I perceive him. Some people say he is nice and down to earth. But his niceness didn’t get carried over on how he treated his wife and his kids. He cheated on all those years if rumors are to true. He saw his kids once in awhile if he feels like it. He did a bunch of stuff that us public look at him as a big dbag. It was nice of Matt to defend his friend but no, Ben is not misunderstood.
Btw, maybe the missing nanny is with Ben in Georgia. She was seen not too long ago at LAX.
Not just his wife but his ex girlfriend as well 4 years he’s been throwing JLo under the bus and playing the victim, now his BFF is doing the same.
It’s one thing if you cheated once you know you people make mistakes, but he’s cheating on three different women that we know of and at three different stages of his life so it’s very clear that there is no misunderstanding.
I almost feel Ben should give JLo some credit for his fame. Other than his small but funny role in Good Will Hunting, who was Ben Affleck before he hooked up with JLo? And really, it wasn’t his relationship with JLo that was ridiculous – it was the horrible movie he made with her and the music video where he rubbed her butt on a yacht. Those were cheesy things he did that went way beyond just having a relationship with a pop star. He got a lot of flack for all that, but it boosted his name none-the-less. I’m no JLo fan, but blaming her for Ben not being taken seriously is pure denial on his part. He did some smarmy stuff that made him look stupid, but it’s not her fault. If anything, she made him relevant.
I also think the JLo connection gave him more visibility overall. And my recollection as well is that everything seemed fine and dandy until that video and movie.
If I were her, I would never acknowledge him. Ever.
+1
In a few years Ben will blame JG for the breakdown of his marriage. I think that is how he rolls. He tried in the beginning of their divorce announcement, but it caused an uproar since it was really stupid. JG will replace JLo in the blame department.
I’m gonna file this under Bitch.Please. I mean really…we all understand Ben perfectly thanks to his shitnanigans. Matt is truly talented and i appreciate the loyalty but some things are indefensible.And shading Jlo isn’t going to deflect it.
I’ve had a soft spot for Matt for a long time, but it isn’t as soft as it used to be and truthfully should never have been as soft as it was long ago. How he broke up with Minnie Driver was pretty douche as I recall. And lately–yeah he just needs to shut up. I get his long time friendship with Ben, and I think it is great. But for him to also start talking about the trainwreck that was Bennifer is just wrong on many levels. It was so long ago. It was craziness personified, But why on earth does Afflect (and now Damon) keep bringing it up? It really is insulting to her ==and I am truly NO fan of JLo. (Don’t have anything really against her except being stupid when it comes to men…..repeatedly stupid…..which means she is just stupid and vapid.) But seriously Matt……… STFU. Now you are letting Ben’s craziness mess with your brand. Don’t get me wrong–I think Affleck is talented on several levels, and I respect him on those aspects. But as a human being and for his treatment of women–hes pretty much a D. F is reserved for those who show violence….like Chris Brown. I’m not saying Damon should dump his friendship……I’m just saying he likely shouldn’t be discussing Ben’s personal life like this, and his ‘splaining really isn’t helping and isn’t necessary to do. It keeps the crazy going with fresh oxygen. Stop. Just stop.
Pretty sure Minnie Driver admitted she lied about the breakup back in the day which means I’ll never look at her the same way (nevermind that she was engaged to Josh Brolin at one point). But yeah, Matt needs to stop cosigning the excuses made by his platonic life partner.
Did she? Didn’t hear that. I’ll look that one up because it will help a little bit with how I view Matt…but yeah, I just wish Matt would shut up on Ben’s personal life.
Yeah, he’d broken up with her a few weeks before the Oprah interview. It’s possible the first time she accepted it was really over was when she saw it on TV, but that’s not really his problem.
Minnie’s got her own issues, and at the time she was pretty fame-hungry. She saw an opportunity to get a lot of attention and she took it.
I think I’ll call them ‘the douche bros’ from now on.
Oh yes the most misunderstood person in the world is a hugely wealthy and influential white male actor. Poor Ben Affleck I pity him so.
So Matt Damon’s a complete tool just like the rest of them. I guess, considering who his best buddy is, we should have known.
This is my favorite comment I read on another site. It’s so true. It feels that way this year regarding every celeb that gives an interview. LOL
“2015, the year everyone was offended by everything.”
This isn’t a case of “everyone was offended by everything.” This is a case of Matt Damon being a jerk and throwing JLO under the bus to make his friend look better.
I get that your a fan of Matt and Ben, but Matt is in the wrong here and The fact that Meme agrees should tell you something.
I agree in general that people seem to be hyper-sensitive these days, and there’s the whole topic of “micro-aggressions”, etc.
That said though, Matt’s comment about JLo did bug me. I know he wasn’t referring to the cheating part of it, but there was no reason at all to bring her into the convo. He could have just talked about how Ben has climbed his way back professionally through hard work, etc.
If anything, now he’s made himself (and Ben) look bad again – by throwing up a 10-year-old relationship that clearly has nothing at all to do with the patterns Ben has continued to repeat over and over since that time, including the latest nannygate. Poor decision overall and very bad timing by Matt – I’d actually be willing to bet Ben is probably cursing out Matt right about now. 🙂
And i can’t believe I’m going to say this, but in this case I agree that there’s a subtle kind of misogyny and prejudice that seems to follow JLo. She’s a Latina and probably a bit more lavish/bling bling in her lifestyle, and that seems to bother people for some reason – vs. the Jen Garners of the world who are also image-obsessed but play that out behind flannel shirts and farmers market strolls. I’d love to see examples of how JLo has hurt anybody else. Despite the perception of her, you rarely see her in the press or the subject of tabloid rumors, and she’s a shrewd businesswomen who has achieved a lot through hard work. I’m really not sure what she’s ever done to deserve the perception – Ben was half of the problem during that time – remember the ad he took out in THR to praise her?! It’s funny how not only did he get out unscathed eventually – and he was the one who cheated! on her! – but somehow JLo is still being blamed, 10 years later. We’ll see if Matt apologizes about this one. Somehow, I think not.:/
I think they are both very image conscious and work hard to protect and project their images. That is a significant part of their brand and the product they sell to the public. But, the audiences to whom they are projecting are very different, I think. There are many brands on the shelf – you go with the one that appeals to your likes and dislikes. I am not what would be considered a fan of either as I have seen few of any of their movies/performances, but I do relate to one over the other simply because of my personality. I don’t have a problem with the other–I just don’t really relate nor am I drawn in by the sales pitch. Others are going to be drawn to the opposite for the same reason. That’s why there is variety.
Ugh, I really wish he had stopped talking about two weeks ago.
@Diane – If you’re talking about JLo and Jen G., I agree completely. I happen to like both of them just fine – just two seemingly very different people. But Jen G. isn’t the one being trashed by Matt. Just not sure what JLo herself has really done to deserve being thrown under the bus like that. Benny, despite my usual show of support for him, is a big boy and has made all of his life decisions on his own, including deciding to date and propose to JLo – and subsequently cheat on her.
Matt Damon is definitely a better actor than Ben Affleck. He proves it again in this interview.
Told you so. Whom you associate with, tells a LOT about you. Birds of a feather. I’m enjoying that everyone is finally seeing that Matt Damon is he ass I’ve always read him to be. And he ain’t as smart as he thinks he is. He rarely has a very logical argument when he’s bitching about someone else. Whether it was the reporter he was bitching out a couple of years ago, or j. Lo in this case, or about a wall that would have kept his wife out. Whatever, dude.