Jimmy Kimmel Reveals Why He Turned Down Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Offer to Pay His Show Staff During Strike

Jimmy Kimmel recently revealed that two Hollywood stars stepped in and offered to pay his show staff out of their own pockets during the writers’ strike, and why he turned down the generous proposition.

The revelation came during the first episode of Strike Force Five, a new show where Kimmel teamed up with fellow late-night hosts Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, and Jimmy Fallon. The podcast launched on Wednesday and all profits from the show will be going toward paying the writing staff on each comedian’s respective shows.

During their conversation, Kimmel brought up actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, with whom he’s had a longstanding friendship and funny rivalry for years.

“Ben Affleck and the despicable Matt Damon contacted me and offered to pay our staff for two weeks — a week each,” Kimmel said specifically about his show. “They wanted to pay out of their own pockets.”

“They’re good people,” Fallon remarked.

“Did you say no?” Colbert asked.

“I did say no, but I did not — I felt that that was not their responsibility,” Kimmel said.

Fallon jumped in to explain that the show, which has sponsors ranging from Ryan Reynold’s Mint Mobile to George Clooney’s Casamigos Tequila, will be helping to pay for their staff.

Speaking of Reynolds, Kimmel added that he “offered a service, Mint mobile service for free for a year to our staff.”

The strike has gone over 120 days and it was well documented in the first weeks of the strike that Kimmel, Fallon, Colbert, and Meyers helped in various ways to continue to pay their staff, including out of their own pocket, while also advocating for their insurance benefits to be extended until September.

Listen above via Strike Force Five.