Do you remember the viral video “I’m f’ing Matt Damon” which Sarah Silverman created back in January, 2008 when she was dating Jimmy Kimmel? It stemmed out of the long-running gag on Jimmy Kimmel Live, in which Kimmel would say, at the end of each show “apologizes to Matt Damon we ran out of time.” In a new interview with People, Kimmel explains how that gag started (he didn’t even know Damon, but Damon’s people called him after that), how the “I’m f’ing Matt Damon” video was made (it was Silverman’s idea), and how the follow-up video, “I’m f’ing Ben Affleck” came to be. Apparently it was Jennifer Garner’s idea, she pitched it at a dinner and got Harrison Ford to make a cameo. Then a bunch of other celebrities joined in and it became a successful follow-up to “I’m f’ing Matt Damon.” That video came out about a month after the original Damon video and it got a lot of buzz. Here’s some of what Kimmel said in his People interview and you can watch the video on their site.
Before the Ben Affleck video was born, it began “early on” with the actor’s best friend Matt Damon, according to Kimmel.
“We had a really bad show. To call them D-list celebrities would have been an upgrade,” Kimmel said about the birth of the Damon joke. “I don’t remember who was on, but I was depressed and I was feeling pretty bad about myself and I just at the end of the show was like, ‘I want to apologize to Matt Damon. We ran out of time.’ It was just the first A-list star I could think of.”
Kimmel said that although he wasn’t friends with Damon at the time, the actor’s publicist called to tell the comic: “Hey, that’s funny. Don’t stop doing that.”
Sarah Silverman, who was dating Kimmel at the time, then created the “I’m F—ing Matt Damon” video – much to the surprise of Kimmel.
“She was a guest on the show and she was like, ‘I have a surprise for you.’ It was one of our anniversary shows and I hadn’t seen one second of it, which is kind of funny,” Kimmel said of the video. “The probably single most successful thing we’ve ever done on the show I had absolutely nothing to do with.”
When the idea came to mind for an Affleck video, the Argo star’s wife suggested the idea to Kimmel.
“Jennifer Garner came up with the idea. She kind of thought it would be funny and was talking to Harrison Ford about it at a dinner, and Harrison Ford was tickled by the idea and said, ‘Well, I’d like to be in that.’ And when Harrison Ford said he might want to be a part of it, we decided to make it more like ‘We Are the World’ and bring all these celebrities in,” Kimmel admitted.
“The rest is Internet history, I guess,” he said of the instant classic.
I heard Kimmel tell Terry Gross on NPR about how he started the Matt Damon gag, and I’m pretty sure I’ve also heard how the Matt Damon video was Sarah Silverman’s initiative, but this is the first time I’m learning the story about how Garner made the Ben Affleck video happen. This is what Affleck means when he credits Garner for his career turnaround. She was there for him, in his corner, and she saw an opportunity to get good PR and went for it. That doesn’t always turn out well for her but she’s shrewd. It makes me wonder how many other opportunities she orchestrated for her estranged husband, and how much he truly owes her.
Here’s I’m F’ing Ben Affleck. They all look so young! (Except Kimmel, he looks better now.) They do a “We Are The World” style singalong with cameos including Brad Pitt, Joan Jett, Christina Applegate, Macy Gray, Robin Williams (RIP), Don Cheadle, Dominick Monaghan, Cameron Diaz, Josh Groban, Huey Lewis, Meatloaf and of course Harrison Ford.
So many women make their husbands their job. I don’t get it.
Yeah and it’s exactly what irks me about Jen Garner. It’s not 1957 anymore she could put all that ambition into her own career and she might be better off and married to a guy who doesn’t bang nannies while she’s busy fixing up his life for him.
I lost any respect for Jennifer Garner, she called the divorce card and all the “we don’t wann hurt the kids, so we’ll be living together” while Gwen Steffani went through the same situation, got divorced, the kids are alright and moved on. You know why Jennifer stays? Cause Ben Affleck is the only relevant thing about her, I’m really sorry to say that, but it’s the reality of things, she made a career of being the perfect mother and devoted wife even when he cheets you every year.
To me Jen and Ben are trying too hard to sell the “perfect” split image to the public and much like their “perfect” marriage image there’s more holes in it than Swiss cheese.
The public didn’t need to know details like they are still living on the same property for the kids. Funny thing is the only time Ben is seen at the house or in the area is when Jen is out of town and he’s in charge of the kids. He has been seen a lot of other place around town.
The only couple who divorced amicably was Goop. They released a statement and end of it.
Kimmel truly looks better with age, he is working the salt and pepper goatee. He doesn’t kiss as much ass and try as hard as who I’ve always associated his counterpart to be– Jimmy Fallon.
I was physically jarred (like cartoon double-take) by my new and sudden attraction to Kimmel! Can’t say I even glanced at the other guy.
I’ve always loved Kimmel. I like his show’s style and his sense of humor. And I reeeeally don’t like Jimmy Fallon either. I can’t with his extraness.
Still funny after all these years.
Eh, I mean, this wasn’t any kind of amazingly edgy or creative idea. The first one with Matt/Sarah was actually original and far better – the next one was just a play on it. I agree though – Garner is definitely shrewd in all areas of her life, including the branding of her marriage and family life. people talk about Ben’s demons, but she clearly has her own deep issues. She has always seemed more like a political wife to me, dealing with a marriage in shambles for a decade while in the background placing huge emphasis on controlling the narrative around their family image.
I enjoyed watching that! It feels like not long ago and then to see Williams……so great! I appreciate that Jimmy always gave Sarah 100% credit (as he should) and that he is out about who thought of this one.
No shame in your smart wife/partner giving you an idea as long as you give them credit.
ROBIN WILLIAMS!!! It made me happy and sad to see him again….a sweet surprise sigh….
It’s interesting. I actually liked the handsome men’s club skit the best. And of course the last scene when kimmel is comforted by affleck in bed only to be revealed that garner is also in bed with them. That might have been the last time Jen and Ben “acted” together. Now that they are divorcing (1.25 years after announcement and still no filing), I think I would actually like to see the two of them in a movie. Too bad that gossip about Ben casting Jen in a new movie was shot down. I think Ben actually owed her a good role and a chance to shine as an actress – maybe as payback for all she has done to bolster his career.
What’s wrong with being a supportive wife? And let’s not pretend that Garner isn’t a cheater many times over herself. I feel no sympathy for her. She knew what she was getting and accepted it. Jennifer is a lot of things but she’s no one’s victim. She’s also not an A list actress so her career is right where it’s suppose to be.
So she copied Sarah Silverman? Ring a ding ding.
Right. Something about watching this made me even more annoyed by Garner and her “amazing wife” shtick.
IKR? Like coattailing Matt Damon (again) is some big accomplishment. There’s a reason we hadn’t heard about this until now. This isn’t newsworthy.
That’s funny I thought Jimmy and Matt were friends when he started saying that line. I didn’t know he just randomly named a celebrity.Lol
I know I’ve said this before, but I just don’t see her as bolstering his career. Say what you will about him, but he’s talented – albeit talented with some demons. He was talented and driven before he ever met Garner, and he had already won an Oscar. Not the best actor, but he’s a solid director/writer/producer. The role Garner played was allowing him to have a family while he focused all of his attention back on revamping his career. But we all know by now, she certainly didn’t tame him. She gave him a family as well as the appearance of being a stable family man. But he always had the raw talent and would have had a comeback either way. He just may not had the family piece of it while building himself back up if not for her. JMO.
I disagree IMO. I think he was being viewed as a flake and frat boy and Hollywood did not take him seriously. He would have stayed around the bus but been like Owen Wilson, Aaron Ekhart (?) and the likes who are famous and working and all but not A list. He would not have been given the big break out opportunities cause of this image the studios had of him at the time. Then he got with her and started turning things around and the image changed to a more mature, stable person and then with the family he further secured that image of being grounded and responsible; no longer the party boy gambler and stripper lover (although he started cheating on her not long after he had the image nailed down). It always surprised me how there was all these tidbits and blinds about him (some revealed to be him for sure) that none where never blown wide open til the Nanny. I also wonder if he started gambling big time again to have funds to pay all his “hush” money so he wouldn’t have to take money out of any joint accounts or money that was transparent.
I loved them together; thought they were adorable. I read all the stuff about him but, like her, kinda looked the other way cause I dismissed them as gossip because I wanted them to stay together even though I had a gut feeling every one of them were true. I think he wanted to love her but try as he might he just didn’t and so he could not help himself and began to spin out of control again. He will do the same cycle again with someone else.
And I think he added another demon to his stable – he will forever antagonize over being the one who caused his kids to now be from a broken family just like his father did to him and Casey. A father he never spoke to for years because of this.
I think there is a difference between him and his father. His father was truly gone from his and Casey’s lives after his parents divorced, and I don’t think Ben is an absentee father. Not saying he hasn’t made some obviously very poor decisions that have affected the family etc., but I do think that he loves his kids and will be there for them in spite of the split. I get the whole “repeating patterns” thing but every split situation is different, and I don’t think exact parallels have to be drawn between him and his father.
I just re-watched I’m f’ing Matt Damon again and it is so freaking funny!!
….Im glad people are keeping the interest in Ben going…me Im just counting down the months😕 to Justice League…
A few months ago Jane posted that Ben was in a relationship and they were hoping to be able to come out in October on a red carpet.
The stories being put out recently were odd. Ben wants back but Jen isn’t ready. Then, Bens friends think Jen is leading him on making him wait. Now, he’s tired of waiting a
No ready to date others. How nicely that was set up. Now, when he pops up with someone “new” it will seem like he did decide to move on since Jen wouldn’t make up her mind, and not at all that he was involved all along. It looks like Jane may have been right and the strategy is logical.
I wonder and it might be a stretch, if the girl who happened to walk up to him in the parking lot with his kids is her. That was such an odd staged encounter. It just didn’t ring true as a random meeting.
We’ll see.
Diane, I thought the encounter was suspect as well. Their body language was so obvious. He seems like a nasty piece of work. I think he will be a horrible ex-husband too. He may not want her but he won’t want her with anyone else either. I think he is the one who is behind so many of the silly gossip leaks. Who do they benefit? Good luck to his next wife, the guy has some serious issues. Jennifer Garner will be stuck dealing with him for many years to come. And in answer to other commenters, I absolutely think he suffers guilt in his family situation. He seems to love his children, but at the end of the day he chose his lifestyle/career over them. They will know it someday too.
These younger women dont care though why would you want to be bothered with a man who has got at least three kids with a ex or someone with 9 older kids, I younger kid, then have your own.
Bingo Diane! I think you are right on the money all the stories where set up by him so he can roll out his new girl, which he has had all along, and have it look they he exhausted every angle to get her back then got tired of being in limbo with her and moved on. All a set up to mitigate negative PR when he goes public with her.
I think he might have had a girlfriend or at least been seeing someone regularly. Around the time of the announcement he was still looking pretty good. When he did promo for BvS he still looked good. The downward spiral happened late Spring/early Summer (and continues). He doesn’t act like someone who has a girlfriend now, he looks like sh-t and has really let himself go. Maybe whoever she was got tired of waiting for the divorce, or tired of the situation, sneaking around, or tired of him using the word “wife” in public to describe his ex — but I feel like whatever he had going is over. I feel like he got dumped. Nothing concrete to go on here but that’s what I think. And I think the fan encounter was just that — a fan. She wouldn’t post it on instagram and then @ him if she were anyone and trying to keep it a secret.
On one hand, it seems like the same old stuff: the tabloids making up any and every story about Ben and the Jennifers. But maybe Ben’s people are putting these stories out there to get people used to seeing him with others? I know one thing — I am sick to death of the “Jen’s pregnant” and the “they’re reconciling” stories. They are literally just recycled month to month. So old. That said, I’m sure there will be another Ben wants Jen back and she’s pregnant story out next week.
Jane also posted that they would file by the end of June and that didn’t happen. So either it was her and she was wrong about things (but couldn’t return and admit it) or it was someone trolling and pretending to be her. I always kinda check the Ben/Jen threads for her and she’s never posted again, to my knowledge.
And before that, Jane posted that Ben would definitely file by Jen’s birthday, which was last April. Nothing she has said so far has come to fruition, so there’s no real reason to think she has any inside information. She’s just a person posting on the Internet – who knows who she is. I’ve seen her post a few things on Ben/Jen threads in the past few months, but no more predictions. If Ben steps out with someone else, good for him and same for Jen at this point. It’s been over 2 years now that they’ve been separated, if you believe Jen’s timeline of them separating 10 months before they announced it. But even if they do, I don’t see either one of them trotting out a new SO on the red carpet anytime soon.
I don’t know that I believe Jen’s tale about having been separated for months. I think she said that to try to save a bit of face after Nannygate. There are pics of them looking very much like a couple during those months. Regardless, it has been since June 2015 that they officially split.
@est I agree with you – I don’t think they were split for 10 months prior – seems more like from April 2015. In March Jen was in Washington, D.C. With Ben and Violet supporting him at a congressional hearing. Whatever problems they had for years seems to have exploded after that. Jen was even giving interviews still talking about their relationship and family when she promoted movies that March.
In any event they officially split 15 months ago. the question is are the finances really that complicated that they are still working it out? Or do neither one of them want to let go of various properties and just continue to be legally married so they can both enjoy their accumulated wealth.
Patrick dempsey’s wife filed for divorce 1.75 years ago – she bought another house – moved into it (with kids). Low and behold a year later the two of them are spotted together and now they have officially reconciled and she is selling the house.
I don’t know what is up with the afflecks but they don’t seem able to publically move on.
The Afflecks went to DC in March, but that has no bearing on whether they were on a trial separation at that time. There were lots of photo opps during those months before they announced their split where they were, once again, playing happy family but clearly were “anything but” behind the scenes. Her childrens’ charity fundraiser was around that time too, and Ben attended, but their body language was obviously strained and distant. It’s well known he was already partially living at the Beverly Hills Hotel during that timeframe. Ben was pictured in Canada without his ring (and rumored with a woman) in that timeframe – on Jen’s bday that April, right after they were in DC. So very clearly, things didn’t just blow up overnight. They had been really bad for quite some time before they announced in June. The fact that there are “happy family” photo opps from the months before June shouldn’t come as any surprise at this point. Jen was working overtime back then, as she always has, to keep the perfect family image in tact. A trial separation wouldn’t have changed that. All the news by June was saying Ben just wanted it over, but Jen didn’t want the official split. My take on it is that Jen was not 100% committed to divorcing when they announced, and she probably still isn’t. Maybe they’ll stay dysfunctionally married forever.
Eh, we don’t know much about the Dempsey marriage. No one is checking for him. His wife is a civilian and doesn’t have any public face to lose if she stays with him. Garner isn’t in the same situation. I have no doubt that if all of the humiliations had remained under wraps, they would not be getting divorced. She has proven time and again that she will put up with basically anything as long as it doesn’t make it to the mainstream press. I highly doubt they will stay dysfunctionally married, that’s for old people like Al and Tipper Gore. The way I see it, either the theory that they are privately mediating the divorce is true and they will actually file, or they will attempt to wait out the public scrutiny (hahah, good luck with that) and five years from now will try to say that after time, hard work and prayer they’ve fixed their marriage and are back together. No one will buy that.
They won’t go the way of Arnold & Maria, never divorced but living separate lives. Arnold has pics of his girlfriend on his instagram. That’s ridiculous, Maria looks foolish and I don’t see Jen agreeing to that. They are too young for that. Ben is Batman, he still has a huge career and will not settle for sneaking girlfriends around for much longer. He will want someone on his arm at premieres and awards shows. His image is hugely important to him. He can’t use Jen Garner anymore because every time they would be pictured together, the nanny and separation would be mentioned. He almost has to find someone new to boost his image. YMMV.
I have always thought their marriage started unraveling in the spring of 2014 – when he was banned from the casino. I think they were up and down for the next year. There was also a great deal of gossip being reported about his relationships with his various co-stars. I think the filming of Batman took its toll on him – he has not really looked healthy for any length of time since then.
Judging from pics on getty, I think he looked totally fine and his usual fit self until about April 2016. Maybe it’s filming Justice League that’s taking its toll? He’s put on weight this summer, that’s for sure.
I think he slept with Emily Ratawhatever on the set of Gone Girl. She broke up with her bf around that time. Ben suggested her for that role and they had a sex scene or two as well. She’s his type.
I know their marriage has been under scrutiny going way back to 2008/2009, but I feel like it became painfully obvious the summer Ben was filming Batman in Detroit. There was a lot of talk that summer about how Jen and the kidswere planning to spend the whole summer there with him, but they ultimately didn’t and stayed in LA, and he didn’t come home much either. Lot of gambling talk that summer too. They seemed really strained then, and that continued on through the filming of Argo and Gone Girl. I could see them staying in a dysfunctional marriage though, and by that I mean a very unhappy and co-dependent one. I don’t mean a marriage like Maria/Arnold and Tipper/Al. Those couples are no longer together and don’t pretend to be. They have other partners and likely just arent divorcing because it’s easier than dividing assets until someone wants to remarry. I agree that Jen wouldn’t tolerate that type of situation, but I do think she might be open to reconciling and staying with Ben. I don’t think she wants to be divorced a third time, and iI think her religion and upbringing influence it too (i.e. the “stick it out no matter what” attitude.) As for Ben’s looks, I think he looked good up until around the time he started shooting Live By Night (last Fall), and part of it was the bad work he had done on his face at that time too.
Maybe they still haven’t reached an agreement regarding property/custody which is why its taking so long. This could also explain why he keeps coming to LA for these very short trips.
Its amusing that there were reports this summer about how he wanted her back but she was on the fence. Some people here were so sure they would come out as a couple any time now. That never happened, did it? Either they really did try to make it work but just couldn’t do it anymore, OR she finally grew a backbone and turned him down.
Jen legally changed her name back to her maiden name recently which suggests to me that she’s done. I don’t think she would go that far if she wasn’t planning on getting divorced.
I saw something about her using her maiden name for the Hilary Clinton fundraiser recently, but I think she has always used Garner in her professional life. Didnt see anything about her legally changing it back to Affleck? I know it’s all tabloid trash, but I kind of believe the stories out there right now about Jen lording “family” over Ben’s head and putting pressure on him to choose kids over dating and making him feel guilty. I don’t think she wants him to move on, and she’s going to pull the “you’re abandoning your kids” card at every turn. It kind of fits in with her crying recently when they were picking kids up from karate. Lots of people didn’t think she was crying, but I thought it looked like she was … who knows.
@jojo- they mentioned how much she donated back in 2012 so maybe they have access to that info, who knows. It is possible that she took Affleck when they got married and kept Garner as a stage name for her career, thats private so it’s not like any of us would ever know….
It definitely looked like she was crying in those pictures. They’re lucky that story didn’t gain much traction.
I read somewhere that she did change her name legally to affleck when she married him. (Same article said she had taken previous husband’s name as well).
Who really knows what is going on with these two. I believe zack Snyder posted that justice league filming was completed last week, so it will be interesting once Ben moves back to LA on a more permanent basis if there is any progress on the divorce.
Social media sightings of Ben and Jen at the wonderwomanwalk for cancer today in LA. Also tweets indicating they hosted or participated in a block party today as well.
All of the pics on social media are just Jen – no Ben. And the DM story makes it sound like it was just Jen there with the kids. No mention or pics of Ben there either. The only reference to Ben was a group of kids with a food truck thanking them both for allowing them to be at their block party – could just be because it was in Jen and Ben’s neighborhood as someone else mentioned on Twitter.
I did not see the pics only the one with the food truck. There is a Facebook posting mentioning the whole family was at the wonderwomanwalk. Also another tweet noting that although Jen and Ben broke up, that day they appeared to be going strong – whatever that means.
@jojo the DM pics seem to be from another event – not the block party – some of the pics seem to be a track and field type of event – others from the wonderwomanwalk. In any case in the food truck pic she is wearing something else. I guess it was a busy event day in LA. I also had a busy event Sunday -but not in LA😀
Yeah, it’s strange he wasn’t pictured in any photo anywhere though – on social or DM. It’s definitely going to be harder for them to dodge questions and speculation about their relationship now that he’s back from London. I keep going back and forth. For a long time, thought they were reconciling and hiding it, but I stopped thinking that over the last few months. Now I don’t know again. I’ve always believed that if they are staying together, they’re going to hide it for quite a while in case things don’t end well. They’re not going to want the scrutiny and pressure of the media watching them trying to reconcile or those stories to affect their kids, so they’re probably going to say nothing publicly and keep the rings off for now. Who knows – too bizarre.
Don’t think he was there. Not sure how anyone got that impression in the first place. The paps were all over the event, plenty of pics of Jen and the kids but not him and there WOULD be, if he had been there. The “track and field day” pics on DM were from the wonderwomanwalk — the medals with pink ribbons that the kids are wearing are finishers medals.
And what proof is there that he’s back from London?
Jojo, you’ve been coming into Ben and Jen threads for like a year, trying to convince yourself and others that they are still secretly together. For awhile there I noticed you towing the line that they were apart… girl, bye. We all know that you’re a shipper.
@J: that tweet gave me a pause but I don’t think she meant it that way. I read is as ‘even though they broke up they still hang about’. Poor wording on her part.
After looking through social media from the weekend, there’s no way that Ben was at either the wonder woman walk or the block party. It’s simply inconceivable that the paps (or anyone else) wouldn’t get him in the pics from the walk, which are on the DM. As for the food truck pic — those are the employees of the food truck in question. lol Look at eatsonofabun instagram. The pic is just with Jen. They probably know that the family home is in the area. And they didn’t host it, it was a food and music festival put on by discoverydowney.org. If Batman had been there, they certainly would have got a pic. It would be all over social media. He wasn’t. Pretty sure he’s still filming JL in Europe.
@cathy, I just looked at eatsonofabun Instagram and the Downey food and music festival was on Saturday. They have another pic of a burger that says on Sunday they were doing a block party in pacific palisades between 3-5. There does not seem to be any pap shots from that event only the food truck photo with Jen. So Ben very definitely could have been there – there was a tweet indicating he was – though the flow up tweet that asked if Ben and Jen were there together followed by the tweeters response “yes lol” has been taken down since. As far as the wonderwomanwalk walk I agree with you had he been there – I would imagine there would have been photos of him. There was a Facebook poster that indicated that he was there with Jen and kids. But again no photographs.
I do think he is probably back in LA – Snyder posted last week that filming had wrapped on Justice League.
As far as them together – I was convinced last spring April – June that they were working on it. Now, not so much. It’s the lack of other public relationship and lack of filing that I think leads to all the speculation. As far as Ben getting back with JLO, I think that is just tabloid dreams. He has dissed her publically so many times tying her to the low of his career, I just can’t see it happening.
@J: If Ben “Batman” Affleck had been at the block party (or anywhere for that matter), those people would have got a pic with him. Simple as that. He’s never denied a fan a pic. I saw a fb post about Ben being at the wonderwoman thing and he clearly wasn’t. And Snyder didn’t say that they had wrapped, he said they were in the homestretch. That does not mean that it is over, that means they are getting close to the end. Oh and OF COURSE the tweet saying that they were there together has been deleted and only a shipper saw it. LOL okay sure. There is literally no proof that he is even in the country.
^ Those sightings come from people that were actually there, I’m pretty sure they know more than you do. Ben can be very low-key when he wants to be.
And JL hasn’t even wrapped filming, it was the last day using that particular batsuit.
They will be filming in Iceland in October and November.
omfg he was not there. it was jen and the kids.
Fb poster now saying that she “heard” Ben was there but did not see him at the Wonderwomanwalk. So I concur Ben was probably not there.
Still may have been at block party – going by other tweeters. And @sure I don’t lie about tweets I saw (or anything else). Whether you view me as a shipper or not. (And I did not say Ben and Jen were back together, I just indicated that a follow up tweeter had asked if they were together at the block party, to which the original tweeter had responded yes). Let’s refrain from putting other people down in a public forum.
The only block party references we have are the food truck thing and then one poster on twitter. One was thanking them for having it in their neighborhood. The other tweet that I saw was some woman saying that she was in their neighborhood for it. Neither one reported actually seeing him there. No one did as far as I can tell. And like, it doesn’t make sense that if he were back he wouldn’t go to the cancer thing with his kids, or be seen anywhere else. I don’t believe that he was in CA this weekend.
@sure so what if JoJo is a shipper? (or not). She is allowed to post either way at any time lol. Shippers and non shippers all welcome to SPECULATE and give their opinion here!
My take on this whole saga.The OW is Jennifer Lopez he does not want to be husband number four so he is stalling until she publicly says she is over getting married.Why he has not divorced Garner yet because he can do whatever she will hang on.She was always his backup plan.He is negotiating with jlo the terms of their relationship if there is going to be one.Nothing more nothing less jmo