The love-hate relationship between Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon continues at the 2024 Oscars, with a special guest doing the talk show host’s dirty work.
Kimmel had the last laugh at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday, where the show’s broadcast ended with a hilarious jab at Damon. This silly moment marks another unforgettable antic in a nearly two-decade feud between the entertainers.
Jimmy Kimmel Ropes Dog Actor Messi Into Teasing Matt Damon
The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” star surprised ABC viewers when the 2024 Oscars broadcast concluded with a shot of Messi, the viral dog actor from “Anatomy of a Fall.”
In the playful moment, Messi lifted his leg over Damon’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star before walking away and appeared to have urinated over his name. This prank suggested Kimmel roped the canine into taunting the “Invictus” actor, per his typical shenanigans.
He hinted at their collaboration earlier during the Oscars broadcast when he gave Messi a touching tribute. He praised the dog during his opening monologue on Sunday, saying:
“Messi, who, even though he’s a dog, may have given the performance of the year in Anatomy of a Fall.”
Kimmel also playfully suggested he would cast Messi to play the lead part if “The Shaggy Dog” ever gets a reboot. He hailed one of the dog’s standout moments in “Anatomy of a Fall,” raving:
“Messi has an overdose scene; if you’ve seen it, you’ve known it. It’s incredible. Honestly, I haven’t seen a French actor eat his own vomit like that since Gérard Depardieu.”
Before the award ceremony, Kimmel had shared a playful video of himself testing out some of his monologue jokes on Messi. In the Instagram clip, he ran lines with the dog, who seemed unimpressed by the content until the talk-show host made a dog joke.
Jimmy Kimmel Teased Matt Damon Ahead Of The 2024 Oscars
Prior to Sunday’s broadcast, Kimmel taunted Damon in a hilarious interview for not attending this year’s Oscars.
The 56-year-old claimed the actor couldn’t participate in the award ceremony despite being in the most-nominated movie of the year, “Oppenheimer.” Kimmel teased:
“He is not nominated for an Oscar. He was in Oppenheimer. Everyone else was nominated except for him.”
Damon’s co-stars, Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., and Emily Blunt, were all nominated, and on Sunday night, the actors went home with trophies.
As for Damon’s absence, Kimmel playfully suggested he couldn’t get an invite. “What really happened? He couldn’t get a ticket,” he claimed, adding:
“It’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard. He asked if he could come, and they told him, ‘Sorry, nominees only.’”
Damon and Kimmel have repeatedly traded barbs back and forth for nearly two decades since the talk-show host started the feud in 2005. They have also roped other celebrities into their dispute, with Messi being the latest collaborator.
Inside Kimmel & Damon’s ‘Feud’
The drama between Kimmel and Damon began during the third season of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” when the talk show host shockingly concluded an episode with the words:
“Apologies to Matt Damon, but we ran out of time.”
At the time, Damon wasn’t scheduled as a guest on that night’s show and, surprisingly, wasn’t close enough for Kimmel to name-drop him. He revealed years later that the pair had never even met when the episode aired in an interview, saying:
“People started to call me and ask like, ‘Hey, what’s your connection to this guy?’ And I’d never met Jimmy.’ He literally pulled my name out of thin air one night.”
A year later, Damon finally appeared as a guest on Kimmel’s show, but the host continued his pranks. He introduced the actor, let him sit down, then cut him off and ended the show.
The episode concluded with the “Bourne” franchise star storming off the stage after unleashing a flurry of curse words on Kimmel. Per PEOPLE, the incident was planned, and Damon was never angry.
Damon Retaliates With Kimmel’s Ex-girlfriend
Following their staged performance on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show, Damon got his revenge against the talk show host in 2008. He roped Kimmel’s then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman into making a fake affair video with him.
Silverman delivered the video to Kimmel in February 2008, featuring a silly original song that exposed her romance with Damon. A rep for the Hollywood heartthrob addressed the prank, claiming the “Ford v Ferrari” actor was excited to have his revenge.
“I don’t even think he thought twice about it. He just said, ‘I’ll do it,’” the rep said, “He had so much fun…It was his turn to get Jimmy.” Damon’s retaliation continued in 2013 when he took over Kimmel’s talk show.
