Jimmy Kimmel Rescues Matt Damon From Choking Incident at Dinner Party: 'I Tried the Heimlich Many Times'

Jimmy Kimmel recently shared a shocking story of how he saved Matt Damon from choking during a dinner party — a terrifying experience that could have ended in disaster.

The late-night host revealed that during one of Damon's visits to Kimmel's home, the actor found himself in a choking predicament after dining on one of Kimmel's home-cooked pork ribs. The piece of meat lodged in Damon's throat for a staggering hour and a half, prompting Kimmel to worry for his friend's safety.

"I said, 'We have got to get him to the hospital,' because if he dies in my house, I'm going to prison for the rest of my life," Kimmel recounted in an interview with Variety. "I will never be able to explain this as anything other than a murder."

Faced with a dire situation, Kimmel and Damon's brother turned to YouTube for a solution. They discovered a method involving eating small pieces of bread slowly to help dislodge the pork rib.

Kimmel stated that the bread actually "saved him," adding, "We tried the Heimlich many times. It was too far down."

Despite their comedic faux feud, which involves exchanging playful barbs over the years, Kimmel and Damon share a close friendship. Damon and Kimmel's friendship is considered one of the most famous and running gags in Hollywood.

While they portray a bitter rivalry on-screen, in reality, their "feud" is an elaborate, fake rivalry that has become a beloved part of pop culture.

The origins of the gag date back to 2005, when Kimmel, at the end of a particularly bad episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, jokingly apologized to Damon, claiming they had run out of time and couldn't have him on the show. The humor came from the fact that Damon was not, and never had been, a scheduled guest. He eventually appeared in 2006, and this has evolved into a larger-than-life friendship between the two.

They have attended major events like the World Series together and have even gone on vacations with their families. In fact, Kimmel was the officiant at Damon's vow renewal ceremony.

Kimmel humorously noted that picking Damon's name to insult was a spontaneous decision during a particularly lackluster episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

"We had a bad show … The guests were bad, and I was feeling pretty bad about myself at the end of the program," Kimmel explained to NPR in 2013. "For the amusement of one of our producers who was standing next to me, I said, 'I want to apologize to Matt Damon. We ran out of time.' He got a kick out of it, so I just started doing it every night to amuse him."

Kimmel admitted he randomly picked Damon's name and felt it was safe since he wouldn't actually bump the actor from the show.

"People laugh every time I say it," Kimmel said. "Repeating the same joke every single night, you'd think eventually people would get tired of it, but they don't."