Matt Damon opens up about supporting Ben Affleck through divorce and other hurdles: “I was there for all of it”

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s friendship has survived fame, fortune, and some of Hollywood’s most public personal struggles. Ahead of their upcoming film The Rip, the longtime collaborators reflected on their bond during a candid appearance on The Howard Stern Show. Their conversation offered rare insight into loyalty, friendship, and standing by each other when life unravelled.

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How did Matt Damon support Ben Affleck during hard times?

During their January 12 appearance on The Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM, Howard Stern asked Damon a direct question: whether, after all these years, he could still go to Affleck and say, “I’m here to help you?” Damon answered without hesitation.


“Oh, yeah, our relationship isn't affected by what people are saying. I was there for all of it," Damon said, as per a report by Mandatory.

Affleck, visibly moved, turned to his longtime friend and replied, “That means a lot to me.” Speaking to Stern, he added, “That's sort of what a real friend is."

What struggles has Ben Affleck faced over the years?

Affleck’s past decade has been marked by highly public challenges. He went through a prolonged and widely covered divorce from Jennifer Garner, entered treatment for alcohol addiction, and later reunited with Jennifer Lopez. The two married in 2022 but separated again in 2025.

Throughout those years, Damon remained a steady presence. The Pearl Harbor star explained that the two friends reached a grounded understanding early in their careers, something he believes helped keep them relatively sane as fame arrived.


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"But getting famous and successful kind of together, [we had] somebody to turn to and go, 'Is this f---ing nuts, or what?' Or to say, 'What are you doing, man?'" Affleck said, recalling how they kept each other in check.

Why has their friendship endured Hollywood pressure?

Stern described their bond as resembling “a great romance” built on “real love.” Affleck agreed.

“It’s definitely love,” he said, explaining that the intense friendships formed as young men often become lifelong. He reflected on how those early bonds shape identity, especially during formative years like high school.

"Especially as a young guy, the really intense love relationships you have with other young men who you’re really loyal to and really close to and who you grew up with, and a lot of times those relationships are lifelong.”

“I think as young men at least, we were much more … We understood better how important these pure friendships were, and what they meant to us and how they kind of define your identity as early as high school,” Affleck said, adding that those relationships helped define who they were long before fame, as per a report by Page Six.

How did early fame shape their lives?

Damon also spoke about how their sudden rise after Good Will Hunting changed everything. The film, which they wrote and starred in, won an Oscar in 1997 and thrust them into global fame in their mid-20s.

"Your evolution gets kind of stunted at the moment you become famous because the world treats you differently... I think we were lucky in that we were 25 and 27, so we had a handful of years under our belt where we would walk into a room and not turn any heads,” Damon explained. He noted that they were lucky to have lived a few years as normal young adults before that shift, allowing them perspective when everything changed, as per a report by Entertainment Weekly.

The two friends reunite on screen in the upcoming action thriller The Rip, written and directed by Joe Carnahan. The film follows a group of Miami cops whose loyalties are tested after discovering millions of dollars. The Rip premieres on Netflix on Friday, January 16.


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Both actors expressed gratitude for having each other during periods of confusion and chaos, crediting their friendship as a stabilizing force through careers and personal upheaval.

FAQs

Did Matt Damon help Ben Affleck during his divorce?
Matt Damon said he was “there for all of it” during Affleck’s struggles.

Are Matt Damon and Ben Affleck working together again?
They star together in The Rip, premiering January 16.