Matt Damon and Ben Affleck sounded off on “cancel culture” with Joe Rogan on Friday. And they did not hold back.
Rogan brought up the topic with the actors, describing being “canceled” as “this idea that one thing you said or one thing you did, and now we’re going to exaggerate that to the fullest extent and cast you out of civilization for life.”
Damon offered, “in perpetuity.”
The actor expanded on that thought, saying, “Because I bet some of those people would have preferred to go to jail for 18 months or whatever, and then come out and say, ‘I paid my debt. Like, we’re done. Like, can we be done?”
“The thing about that getting kind of excoriated, publicly like that, it just never ends,” Damon continued. “And it’s the first thing that... you know, it just will follow you to the grave.”
Damon himself has been subject to “cancel culture” of a sort throughout his long career in the spotlight. And his tendency to say things that rub certain people the wrong way caught Bill Maher’s eye in 2021.
“It is a phenomenon that truly fascinates me, that every couple of years, Matt Damon, one of the most likable guys in Hollywood, with impeccable liberal credentials, is again flailing around in cancel culture quicksand,” Maher said, referring to a story about Damon saying he only stopped using the “f-slur” after his daughter told him it was inappropriate. The actor later clarified that he “never called anyone” that word in his personal life.
Years earlier, Damon had to apologize for appearing to dismiss the need for diversity on movie sets in a scene from his HBO documentary series Project Greenlight.
The actors joined Rogan on Friday to promote their new Netflix movie The Rip. The film follows Miami cops who discover millions in stashed cash, leading them to question one another’s loyalty. Affleck told Rogan that the film shows the “slippery slope” people can get into before making big mistakes.
“It’s a much more honest evaluation of people. And it allows for, like, complexity and forgiveness and f---ing all the s--t that’s sort of beautiful about people like rather than this notion of like, well, we’re going to be binary, good or bad, perfect or not, whatever, and any infraction permanently stains you.”
“You become like an outcast. And I don’t think anybody wants to think you’re the sum total of... who you are is your worst moment,” Affleck continued.
Added Damon, “It’s about evolution and our own personal evolution, and we’re all on our own path towards that. The idea of attacking someone... it’s like ‘Oh, so you aced the test? Like, put your pencil down, you nailed being human? You’re done, congratulations.”
