Jimmy Kimmel Says Ben Affleck And Matt Damon Offered To Pay His Staff During Strikes

On Wednesday’s (August 30th) episode of the newly launched Strike Force Five podcast, Jimmy Kimmel revealed that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon offered to pay his staff on Jimmy Kimmel Live! when the Writers Guild of America first went on strike in May.

“Ben Affleck and the despicable Matt Damon contacted me and offered to pay our staff for two weeks, a week each … They wanted to pay them out of their own pocket,” Kimmel said, referring to his faux feud with Damon. Kimmel said he declined the offer because he felt “that was not their responsibility.”

To this, Stephen Colbert quipped, “Couldn’t you say yes and then give your money to us?”

Kimmel also shared that he was ready to retire just as the strikes began. “I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started,” he said. “And now, I realize, oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work. You know when you are working, you think about not working.”