Matt Damon insists that he has never used a homophobic slur in his "personal life" following an onslaught of backlash after a recent interview.
The Hollywood star came under-fire after being quoted saying that he only stopped using the homophobic slur “f****t” after one of his daughter’s told him how dangerous it was in recent months.
In a controversial interview with the Sunday Times, 50-year-old Matt said: “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.”
After his comments sparked major controversy worldwide and were widely criticised by LGBTQ+ activists, the Oscar winning star released a statement saying he wanted to make it clear that he stands with the LGBTQ+ community.
The dad-of-three girls also affirmed that he understands why the interview “led many to assume the worst”, but insists he has never used the word in his “personal life” and does not “use slurs of any kind.”
"I have never called anyone 'f****t' in my personal life and this conversation with my daughter was not a personal awakening,” he stressed.
“I do not use slurs of any kind."
In a lengthy statement to Variety, Damon said: “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**' used on the street before I knew what it even referred to,” he said.
“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.”
Matt said he not only agreed with his daughter, but was "thrilled" by her passion and desire for social justice.
“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.”
Damon continued: “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.”
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