min read · August 19, 2025 · Entertainment

How Jimmy Kimmel Nearly Became a Criminal: Matt Damon's Choking Scare!

The Epic Feud Between Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon: A Tale of Ribs, Revenge, and Emmy Glory

In a shocking turn of events, Jimmy Kimmel has revealed that he genuinely feared being charged with "murder" after his longtime frenemy Matt Damon choked on a pork rib at his $7.8M Windsor Square LA home. The hilarious and harrowing incident has left fans wondering if the infamous feud between these two comedy legends is finally heating up.

For over 20 years, Kimmel and Damon have been engaging in a satirical public spat that's become as iconic as their respective careers. It all began in 2005 when Kimmel ended his ABC late-night show with a joke about running out of time to book the Oscar-winning screenwriter, despite never having actually booked him.

The animosity only grew stronger, with Damon retaliating by pretending to hold Kimmel hostage on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2013. The Cambridge-born action star even took it a step further by crashing Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, hosted by none other than his BFF-turned-host Ken Jennings.

But it was just last week that the gloves really came off. Damon pretended to crash the game show once again, this time with Kimmel as his co-host. The unlikely duo even won $1M for their charity Water.org, which provides clean drinking water to millions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. "200K people we'll help with that," Damon proudly declared.

However, the tables were turned when Jimmy jokingly called Matt a "hemorrhoid" on ABC's rebooted game show Jeopardy. Kimmel begrudgingly agreed to shake hands with the Artists Equity co-founder, who was still sporting his burly beard for Christopher Nolan's upcoming epic The Odyssey.

But what really got our attention was when Kimmel announced via billboard at Santa Monica and La Cienega that he will be submitting his Emmy vote for his beleaguered Strike Force Five colleague, Stephen Colbert. "I think it will be a nice statement if he does win," Kimmel said to thescholarlynote.com. "Obviously, awards don't mean much, but every once in a while they do, and in this case, I think it will."

Kimmel also took aim at the network's decision to cancel Colbert's Late Show, saying that the claim of losing $40M a year was "beyond nonsensical." He argued that affiliate fees are often overlooked when analyzing the show's budget, which number in the hundreds of millions – if not billions.

When asked about his own success on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the Brooklyn-born presenter revealed that he's been on his fifth annual summer break since June 20. But don't worry, folks – he'll be back hosting duties on September 2, with a slew of guest hosts including Anthony Anderson, Nicole Byer, Alan Cumming, and Kumail Nanjiani.

Meanwhile, Matt has been keeping busy co-producing Bill Condon's remake of the West End musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring his BFF Ben Affleck's second ex-wife Jennifer Lopez. And in a crime drama first, Damon and Affleck will be playing Miami cops in Joe Carnahan's Netflix film The Rip, premiering January 16.

As the Emmy Awards approach on September 14, one thing is clear: this feud between Kimmel and Damon is far from over. Will they put aside their differences for the sake of charity? Only time (and a few more pork ribs) will tell.

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