Matt Damon is learning the hard way the meaning of the phrase shoots oneself in the foot.
Over the weekend, the actor, who has become famous over the years for making silly jokes with Ben Affleck and Jimmy Kimmel, sparked outrage for making a revelation about his personal life.
Talking to the British publication Sunday Times, Matt Damon stated that he was recently schooled by one of his four daughters for using the word “f****t” in front of her.
The filmmaker revealed that while having dinner with his family, he attempted to joke using the homophobic slur as he did in the 2003 movie Stuck on You!
His daughter disapproved of the joke, told him that he was wrong, and left the dinner table. The 50-year-old producer shares four daughters Stella, 10, Gia, 12, Isabella, 15, and Alexia, 22, with wife Luciana Barroso.
He did not disclose which daughter shared the important life lesson with him. Damon went on to say that his daughter wrote him a treatise with in-depth arguments on why the “f-word for homosexuals” is “dangerous.”
He said that he has since retired the slur. The Stillwater actor had this to say during the interview: “The word that my daughter calls the ‘f-slur’ for a homosexual was commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application. I made a joke months ago and got a treatise from my daughter. She left the table. I said, ‘Come on, that’s a joke! I say it in the movie ‘Stuck on You’!’ She went to her room and wrote a very long, beautiful treatise on how that word is dangerous. I said, ‘I retire the f-slur!’ I understood.”
Matt Damon received major backlash after sharing the incident with the media outlet. Following the controversy, Matt Damon shared a lengthy statement to clarify his comment.
He said that he has never insulted anyone using the offensive word, apologized for the joke, shared more details about the conversation he says he had with his daughter, and said he is proud of her.
He stated: “During a recent interview, I recalled a discussion I had with my daughter where I attempted to contextualize for her the progress that has been made – though by no means completed – since I was growing up in Boston and, as a child, heard the word ‘f*g’ used on the street before I knew what it even referred to. I explained that that word was used constantly and casually and was even a line of dialogue in a movie of mine as recently as 2003; she, in turn, expressed incredulity that there could ever have been a time where that word was used unthinkingly. To my admiration and pride, she was extremely articulate about the extent to which that word would have been painful to someone in the LGBTQ+ community regardless of how culturally normalized it was. I not only agreed with her but thrilled at her passion, values, and desire for social justice.”
He went on to say: “I have never called anyone ‘f****t’ in my personal life, and this conversation with my daughter was not a personal awakening. I do not use slurs of any kind. I have learned that eradicating prejudice requires active movement toward justice rather than finding passive comfort in imagining myself ‘one of the good guys.’ And given that open hostility against the LGBTQ+ community is still not uncommon, I understand why my statement led many to assume the worst. To be as clear as I can be, I stand with the LGBTQ+ community.”
Some observers say that Damon might pay a small price for his confession.
