NEWSBen Affleck Praises 'Real Friend' Matt Damon for Sticking by Him Through Multiple Divorces and Addiction Struggles: 'That Means a Lot to Me'
The actors are longtime friends and collaborators.
Jan. 12 2026, Published 6:16 p.m. ET
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are true friends.
The dynamic duo — who broke into the industry in their 20s with the hit 1997 film Good Will Hunting — discussed their relationship in a joint interview with Howard Stern that dropped on Monday, January 12.
Stern asked Damon, 55, if he "could you go to, Ben, and say, 'I'm here to help you,'" when Affleck, 53, was "going through all his problems," citing his "divorce" and "problem with alcohol."
'Our relationship isn’t affected by what people are saying,' Matt Damon told Howard Stern.
In response, the Interstellar actor said, "Oh, yeah," adding, "I was there for all of it."
"Our relationship isn’t affected by what people are saying,” Damon noted, to which Affleck replied, "That means a lot to me."
"That's sort of what a real friend is," the Gone Girl actor noted of his longtime pal and collaborator.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck launched their careers together in the late '90s.
The Oscar-winning pair then reminisced on how they used to be nobodies before making it big in Hollywood.
"Your evolution gets kind of stunted at the moment you become famous because the world treats you differently," explained Damon. "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."
"And nobody gave a s---," they both declared.
Ben Affleck's Multiple Divorces
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Ben Affleck's exes include Jennifer Garner and Jennifer Lopez.
Affleck made his fair share of headlines over the years thanks to his divorces from Jennifer Garner and Jennifer Lopez.
The Argo star has also battled alcohol addiction throughout adulthood. Notably, Garner has driven him to rehab on several occasions over the years.
Jennifer Garner Admits Divorce From Ben Affleck Was 'Hard'
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck were married from 2005 to 2015.
The actress, 53 — whom Affleck was married to for 10 years and shares three children with — recently opened up about their painful split in a new interview.
"You have to be smart about what you can and can’t handle, and I could not handle what was out there. But what was out there, was not what was hard," she explained. "The actual breaking up of a family is what was hard. Losing a true partnership and friendship is what was hard."
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner Are Still Friends
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner share three kids.
However, the stars are on good terms and are often seen out together looking chummy.
In fact, the exes attended their children’s school play together in December 2025, and Affleck gushed over the 13 Going on 30 star in a March 2025 interview.
"I'm really lucky that I have a really good co-parent and partner in Jennifer Garner, the kids' mom, who's wonderful and great and we work together well," he told GQ.
