--- description: Matt Damon has come under fire after making controversial comments regarding diversity in film. During an episode of HBO's reality competition show Project Greenlight, in... title: Matt Damon Under Fire for Comments About Diversity in Movies image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21270f806866916c/698767dde20a872738a83412/matt-damon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Matt Damon Under Fire for Comments About Diversity in Movies by [Jodi Guglielmi / People](/author/people/) ## Jodi Guglielmi / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 16, 2015 5:13 AM CUT  Actor Matt Damon attends the Project Greenlight event at Boulevard3 in Hollywood on Nov. 7, 2014 Actor Matt Damon attends the Project Greenlight event at Boulevard3 in Hollywood on Nov. 7, 2014Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic by [Jodi Guglielmi / People](/author/people/) ## Jodi Guglielmi / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 16, 2015 5:13 AM CUT Matt Damon has come under fire after making controversial comments regarding diversity in film. During an episode of HBO’s reality competition show Project Greenlight, in which Damon and Ben Affleck award a $3 million film budget to aspiring filmmakers competing to direct the same script , Damon found himself in a heated debate with Effie Brown, a successful black film producer. While the panelists were discussing which contestant to grant the money to, Brown suggested her top contender was a directing team that included a Caucasian female and an Asian male (Leo and Kristen). When the fellow panelists showed their surprise at Brown’s choice, she stressed the importance of choosing a diverse directing team that could properly deal with the issue of the only black character in the film being a prostitute. “I would just want to urge people to think about whoever this director is, the way that they are going to treat the character of Harmony with her being a prostitute, the only black person being a hooker who gets hit by her white pimp,” she said. “You’re looking at this group right here and who you’re picking and the story that you’re doing, and I just want to make sure that we are doing our best.” Brown favored Kristen and Leo because they directly addressed this issue earlier in the episode when meeting with the judges, saying they wanted to make sure the film didn’t feel like it was “slut-shaming” the female character. Damon, 44, cut in to point out that other, less diverse teams had also raised the same concerns. “I will say that the only team that’s left with diversity is the team that announced that they like this script the most as it is, and that’s Leo and Kristen,” he explained. “Everyone else had major problems with exactly the things you’re bringing up and exactly the things that we brought up to each other.” Damon then claimed diversity was not necessarily an issue for them to consider when choosing a director, but that it should be the focus during the casting process “When we’re talking about diversity, you do it in the casting of the film, not in the casting of the show.” Visibly taken aback by Damon’s response, Brown replied: “Wow, okay.” Damon’s comments have sparked fervent comments online and a heated debate on what exactly he meant. Some social media users are accusing Damon of “whitesplaining” diversity. In a separate interview later in the show, Damon addressed the topic once more, saying he was glad Brown “flagged the issue of diversity for all of us.” He went on to explain his comments by suggesting that the point of the show was to choose the director solely based on their talent, and nothing else. “If suddenly you change the rules of this competition at the 11th hour, it just seems like you would undermine what the competition is supposed to be about, which is about giving someone this job based entirely on merit and leaving all other factors out of it,” he said. “It’s just strictly a filmmaking competition.” [_This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.com_](http://www.people.com/article/matt-damon-comments-diversity-film-project-greenlight-hbo "undefined") ### See All the Best Actors in Oscar History  1929: Emil Jannings - The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh Imagno/Getty Images  1930: Warner Baxter - In Old Arizona Hulton Archive/Getty Images  1931: George Arliss - Disraeli Print Collector/Getty Images  1932: Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul Popperfoto/Getty Images  1933: Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1947: Fredric March - The Best Years of Our Lives Popperfoto/Getty Images  1933: Wallace Beery - The Champ Popperfoto/Getty Images  1934: Charles Laughton - The Private Life of Henry VIII Hulton Archive/Getty Images  1935: Clark Gable - It Happened One Night Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  1936: Victor McLaglen - The Informer Print Collector/Getty Images  1937: Paul Muni - The Story of Louis Pasteur Print Collector/Getty Images  1938: Spencer Tracy - Captains Courageous 1939: Spencer Tracy - Boys Town Clarence Sinclair Bull—John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images  1940: Robert Donat - Goodbye, Mr. Chips Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images  1941: James Stewart - The Philadelphia Story John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images  1942: Gary Cooper - Sergeant York 1953: Gary Cooper - High Noon Hulton Archive/Getty Images  1943: James Cagney - Yankee Doodle Dandy Popperfoto/Getty Images  1944: Paul Lukas - Watch on the Rhine Popperfoto/Getty Images  1945: Bing Crosby - Going My Way Hulton Archive/Getty Images  1946: Ray Milland - The Lost Weekend Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images  1948: Ronald Colman - A Double Life Getty Images  1949: Laurence Olivier - Hamlet Mondadori/Getty Images  1950: Broderick Crawford - All the King's Men Columbia Pictures/Getty Images  1951: José Ferrer - Cyrano de Bergerac Mondadori/Getty Images  1952: Humphrey Bogart - The African Queen Archive Photos/Getty Images  1954: William Holden - Stalag 17 Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images  1955: Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront 1973: Marlon Brando - The Godfather Hulton Archive/Getty Images  1956: Ernest Borgnine - Marty GAB Archive/Redferns/Getty Images  1957: Yul Brynner - The King and I Archive Photos/Getty Images  1958: Alec Guinness - The Bridge on the River Kwai Hulton Archive/Getty Images  1959: David Niven - Separate Tables Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images  1960: Charlton Heston - Ben-Hur Mondadori/Getty Images  1961: Burt Lancaster - Elmer Gantry Archive Photos/Getty Images  1962: Maximilian Schell - Judgment at Nuremberg Pictorial Parade/Getty Images  1963: Gregory Peck - To Kill a Mockingbird Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images  1964: Sidney Poitier - Lilies of the Field John D. 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