Ben Affleck and Matt Damon offered to pay the wages of Jimmy Kimmel's talk show staff at the start of the writers strike.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon offered to pay Jimmy Kimmel's staff while his talk show was off-air
'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' has been off-air for four months after the Writer's Guild of America announced industrial action over pay and residuals back in May and the host has now revealed the two Hollywood stars offered to step in and cover the salaries of the show workers who would be left out of pocket while the show was shelved.
During an appearance on his new 'Strike Force Five' podcast, Jimmy revealed: "Ben Affleck and the despicable Matt Damon contacted me and offered to pay our staff for two weeks, a week each, they wanted to pay [them] out of their own pockets. Our staff."
However, Jimmy turned the offer down and explained: "I did say no. I felt that that was not their responsibility ... "
He revealed Ryan Reynolds also offered some help to the show's staff by giving them a year of free service with the mobile phone company he owns - Mint Mobile.
Jimmy added: "He offered service for free for a year to our staff. I don't know the details but that's the headline there."
During the show, the host also revealed he considered retiring after the writers strike kicked off, saying: "I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started. And now, I realise: 'Oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work.’ You know when you are working, you think about not working."
The podcast features Jimmy alongside fellow talk show hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver who have come together to create a limited run of episodes while their shows are off-air. Proceeds from the podcast will go to the talk show staff who are currently without work.
Tagged in Ben Affleck Jimmy Kimmel Matt Damon