Jimmy Kimmel Says Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Offered to Pay His Staff During Strike

Jimmy Kimmel has generous friends in Hollywood.

The late-night host, 55, joined fellow hosts Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon and John Oliver on the new podcast, Strike Group Five.

At one point, Kimmel said his longtime friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon offered to pay him Jimmy Kimmel Live! staff salaries during the ongoing writers’ strike.

“Ben Affleck and the despicable Matt Damon contacted me and offered to pay our staff for two weeks,” Kimmel said, the “despicable” being a reference to a longtime joke between the two.

“Every week, they wanted to pay out of their own pockets for our staff,” Kimmel said Good Will Hunting stars, to which Fallon said they were “good people.”

“I felt it wasn’t their responsibility,” said Kimmel, who declined their offer.

The 11th annual “Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars” airs especially live on Oscar Sunday, February 28, following the late local newscast EST/CST and at 10:00 PM PST on Walt Disney Television.

Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Last month, Damon, 52, said Associated Press at a red carpet event for Oppenheimer in London just before the actors’ strike that it was “incredibly important” that the union protect actors’ interests amid the strike.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon at the world premiere of “AIR” during the 2023 SXSW Conference and Festival at The Paramount Theater on March 18, 2023 in Austin, Texas.

Michael Loccisano/Getty

We have to protect people who are somewhat on the margins, Damon said at the time. “$26,000 a year is what you have to make to get your health insurance, and there are a lot of people whose remaining payments carry them over that threshold. If those remaining payments dry up, their health care goes away, and that’s absolutely unacceptable.”

On Strike Group Five Wednesday, Kimmel — host and executive producer Jimmy Kimmel Live!which he has hosted since 2003 — also revealed that he is ready to retire after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike in May.

“I had every intention of retiring right around the time the strike started,” Kimmel said. “And now I realize, oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work.”

Late night super group! Find out why Colbert, Meyers, Oliver and both Jimmys are teaming up

“When you work, you think about not working,” he added.

Meyers asked, “Kimmel, come on, you’re Tom Brady late at night … you faked retirement … Are we going to take your word for it?”

Kimmel replied, “I was serious. I was very, very serious,” he also admitted that he likes to take summers off when he gets paid.

Late-night shows shut down as Hollywood writers strike begins after failed negotiations

Since May 2, more than 1,000 writers from various media platforms such as television, film, news and the Internet have gone on strike as part of the WGA. The union demanded better wages, more residuals and restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence.

Production of late night shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers and Daily show interrupted, and replays are broadcast.

Fallon, Meyers, Colbert, Oliver and Kimmel announced the launch of their limited series on Tuesday, which explores hosts who comment on “the strikes in Hollywood and beyond.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education