Even when he’s not nominated for an Academy Award, you can usually count on Matt Damon to be in the audience during the annual Oscars festivities.
However, don’t be surprised if the Boston-bred actor is notably abscent from the 2018 show. While you’d expect Damon to show up to tango with his longtime frenemy—and Oscars host—Jimmy Kimmel, it sounds like that’s not going to happen this year.
During a chat with Deadline ahead of this weekend’s ceremony, Kimmel revealed that Damon might not be around to endure another public shaming at the hands of the late-night TV star.
“I believe Matt is visiting his potatoes on Mars right now,” Kimmel said. “I don’t think Matt is around.”
Damon may be keeping a low-profile this awards season for another reason, as he was recently caught up in quite a bit of controversy for his comments regarding sexual harassment in Hollywood stemming from the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. The actor was lambasted by everyone from Rose McGowan to Minnie Driver over his statements in the wake of so many scandals coming to light, although he has since publicly apologized for his comments.
“A lot of those women are my dear friends,” Damon said while apologizing during in an interview on the “Today” show. “I love them and respect them and support what they’re doing and want to be a part of that change and want to go along for the ride, but I should get in the back seat and close my mouth for a while.”
That last part may offer some insight into whether we’ll see him on Oscars night or not. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the star skips the ceremony entirely in order to avoid getting harangued by media on the red carpet.
Damon was also not in the audience during this year’s Golden Globes, however, he did hang out with his “Thor: Ragnarok” co-star Chris Hemsworth during Amazon Studios’ after-party. So even if he doesn’t show up to the Oscars ceremony, he may still get his party on afterwards. We’ll just have to wait and see.
