Matt Damon defends himself from criticism and claims not to use homophobic insults
Matt Damon started the month of August with a new controversy. Last weekend, an interview with the actor appeared in The Sunday Times in which he recounted an anecdote with his daughter that involved the word “f*ggot”, a pejorative term for the LGTBQ community whose equivalent in Spain would be “m*rich”.
The controversy came because Damon seemed to admit he was still using the word a few months ago: “I made a joke a few months ago and got scolded by my daughter. He got up from the table. yeah, it’s a joke! I mean it in the movie ‘Stuck on You’!” She went to her room and wrote a really long, beautiful explanation of why that word is dangerous. I said, “I’m taking the ‘f*ggot back ‘!” I get it.”
Faced with the deluge of criticism despite the fact that the anecdote had a moral end, the actor published a press release to explain that he does not use this word and that he positions himself as an ally of the LGTBQ collective:
“In a recent interview, I recalled a discussion I had with my daughter in which I tried to contextualize for her the progress that has been made – and is far from over – since I grew up in Boston and as a child I heard the word ‘f*g’ used on the street before I explained to him that the word was used constantly and casually and was even a line of dialogue in one of my movies as recent as 2003, she replied in disbelief that there could never have been a time when that word was used without thinking.
To my admiration and pride, she was extremely vocal about the level of pain that word can cause someone from the LGBTQ+ community, no matter how culturally normalized they are. Not only do I agree with her, but I was also touched by her passion, her values and her desire for social justice. I haven’t called anyone ‘f*ggot’ in my personal life and this conversation with my daughter was not a personal wake-up call. I do not use any derogatory nicknames of any kind. I’ve learned that eradicating prejudice requires an active movement toward justice rather than finding passive comfort in imagining myself as “one of the good guys.” And given that open hostility against the LGBTQ+ community is still not uncommon, I understand my statement would lead many to assume the worst. To be as clear as possible: I’m on the side of the LGBTQ+ community.”
The GLAAD association reacted to this statement by recalling the importance that this word and any word with a derogatory connotation against the LGBTQ population “have no place” in the media, in the workplace or elsewhere.
your next outing
Matt Damon will premiere his new film, ‘A Matter of Blood’, in theaters on August 13. Directed by Tom McCarthy (‘Spotlight’), it focuses on a father who travels to Marseille to try to prove the innocence of his daughter (Abigail Breslin), who is in prison accused of murder.
