--- description: Actor Matt Damon, who was criticized last month for his comments on the #MeToo movement, said he plans to keep quiet "for a while." title: Matt Damon Apologizes For His Comments on Sexual Assault image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a17dbdcbbbd1c97/6988f8504ee26257a4310800/matt-damon-me-too-comment.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'I Really Wish I'd Listened.' Matt Damon Apologizes for Comments on Sexual Assault by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 16, 2018 4:50 PM CUT  Actor Matt Damon attends the "Downsizing" New York screening at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on December 11, 2017 in New York City. Actor Matt Damon attends the "Downsizing" New York screening at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on December 11, 2017 in New York City.Noam Galai—WireImage by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 16, 2018 4:50 PM CUT After drawing criticism for his [comments on sexual assault](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/17/arts/matt-damon-metoo-movement.html "undefined") in December, actor Matt Damon weighed in again on the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements that aim to combat sexual harassment and assault in workplaces across several industries, and apologized for potentially causing people pain. “I really wish I’d listened a lot more before I weighed in on this,” Damon said on the _Today Show_ on Tuesday. “I don’t want to further anybody’s pain with anything that I do or say. So for that I’m really sorry.” > [](https://twitter.com/klgandhoda/status/953291514125406211) Damon spoke on the topic of sexual assault last month in an [interview with ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/matt-damon-opens-harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment-confidentiality/story?id=51792548 "undefined"), where he discussed the numerous allegations of sexual harassment and assault against Harvey Weinstein and said that he felt men shouldn’t be grouped together for their bad behavior instead of being judged on a “spectrum.” “You know, there’s a difference between, you now, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right?” he said. “Both of those behaviors need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated, right?” Multiple people criticized Damon’s comments online. Actor Minnie Driver, who starred with Damon in _Good Will Hunting_ and once dated him, responded: > [](https://twitter.com/driverminnie/status/941733516999405568) In an interview with the _Guardian_, Driver said in [reference to Damon’s comments](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/16/minnie-driver-matt-damon-men-cannot-understand-abuse "undefined") that men “simply cannot understand what abuse is like on a daily level.” Actor Alyssa Milano, who called on women to share their experiences of sexual harassment and assault through the #MeToo movement created by [Tarana Burke](http://time.com/5070579/metoo-tarana-burke-new-years-eve-ball-drop-times-square/ "undefined"), said she has “been a victim of each component of the sexual assault spectrum” that Damon mentioned. “They all hurt,” Milano said. “And they are all connected to a patriarchy intertwined with normalized, accepted–even welcomed–misogyny.” > [](https://twitter.com/Alyssa%5FMilano/status/941840946420789250) Speaking on the _Today Show_, Damon expressed his support for the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements but said that he’ll be keeping quiet for some time. “A lot of those women are my dear friends, I love them and respect them and support what they’re doing, and want to be part of that change, and want to go along for the ride,” he said. “But I should get in the back seat and close my mouth for a while.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5104248/matt-damon-me-too/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5104248/matt-damon-me-too/"},"headline":"'I Really Wish I'd Listened.' Matt Damon Apologizes for Comments on Sexual Assault","datePublished":"2018-01-16T16:50:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:46.839Z","description":"The actor was criticized last month for his comments on the #MeToo movement","url":"https://time.com/5104248/matt-damon-me-too/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a17dbdcbbbd1c97/6988f8504ee26257a4310800/matt-damon-me-too-comment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a17dbdcbbbd1c97/6988f8504ee26257a4310800/matt-damon-me-too-comment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"Downsizing\" New York Screening","caption":"\"Downsizing\" New York Screening","creditText":"Noam Galai—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5104248/matt-damon-me-too/","name":"'I Really Wish I'd Listened.' Matt Damon Apologizes for Comments on Sexual Assault"}}]}] ```