GLAAD says Matt Damon's remarks are a reminder that anti-LGBTQ slurs have "no place in mainstream media".
Matt Damon
The 50-year-old actor recently revealed his daughter called him out for using the word "f*****" and explained why it is so "dangerous", but he later insisted he does not "use slurs of any kind".
After Matt clarified his remarks, GLAAD told TMZ: "The conversations that have arisen after Matt Damon's original interview and subsequent remarks are an important reminder that this word, or any word that aims to disparage and disrespect LGBTQ people, has no place in mainstream media, social media, classrooms, workplaces, and beyond.
"There needs to be accountability at a time when anti-LGBTQ slurs remain rampant today and can fuel discrimination and stereotypes, especially when used by those outside of the community to defame or describe LGBTQ people."
Damon - who has daughters Isabella, 15, Gia, 12, and Stella, 10, along with stepdaughter Alexia Barroso, 22, with wife Luciana Barroso- revealed his use of the slur in an interview with The Sunday Times over the weekend.
He said: "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."
However, he later said he "stands with the LGBTQ+ community" after backlash over his comments.
In a lengthy statement to 'Entertainment Tonight', he said: "I have never called anyone 'f*****' in my personal life and this conversation with my daughter was not a personal awakening.
"I do not use slurs of any kind. 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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