Matt Damon Swears He Never Uses 'Slurs Of Any Kind'

Matt Damon is backtracking recent statements he made regarding using a homophobic slur his daughter refers to as the ‘F-slur.’

The Blast previously reported that Damon revealed he learned a valuable lesson from one of his daughters regarding an anti-LGBTQ+ term.

In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Damon revealed how his daughter schooled him vocabulary that is appropriate to use in 2021 and NOT appropriate to use in 2021.

via GIPHY

“The word that my daughter calls the ‘f-slur for a homosexual’ was commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application,” he told the publication.

“I made a joke, months ago, and got a treatise (essay) from my daughter. She left the table. I said, ‘Come on, that’s a joke! I say it in the movie ‘Stuck on You!’” Damon said. “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.”

The “Stuck On You” actor did not disclose which of his four daughters, taught him the lesson, but regardless, he grew from it.

Now, the Academy Award winner has issued a statement clarifying what he meant.

In the statement issued on Tuesday, August 3, Damon said he never used the word in his “personal life” and he does not “use slurs of any kind.”

Damon says he was trying to show his daughter how far the LGBTQ+ community has come, while also highlighting that there is still work left to do.

In the statement obtained by People Damon wrote, “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.”

"I explained that that word was used constantly and casually and was even a line of dialogue in a movie of mine [Stuck on You!] as recently as 2003. She in turn expressed incredulity that there could ever have been a time where that word was used unthinkingly,” he continued.

Damon stressed that he stands behind the LGBTQ+ community wholeheartedly and does not use slurs of any kind in his personal life.

“I have never called anyone ‘f****t’ in my personal life and this conversation with my daughter was not a personal awakening. I do not use slurs of any kind,” he said. “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.”

Damon also expressed how proud he is of his daughter for being articulate in her treatise, and for showcasing how painful that word can be for someone in the LGBTQ+ community.

"I not only agreed with her but thrilled at her passion, values and desire for social justice,” he said.