Jimmy Kimmel Recalls Saving Matt Damon from Choking Incident

During a recent interview, Jimmy Kimmel shared a story about once rescuing Matt Damon when he nearly suffocated at his house. The late-night host explained that Damon was dining with him when he suddenly choked on a pork rib he had cooked. The piece of meat remained lodged in Damon’s throat for approximately an hour and a half.

Kimmel said he promptly suggested going to the hospital, joking that if Damon were to die at his home, he might face serious legal repercussions. “I told Damon’s brother, ‘We have 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.

As a solution, Kimmel and Damon’s brother turned to YouTube for advice. They found a method of eating small bites of bread very slowly to help the rib move down into Damon’s stomach. Kimmel emphasized that this bread technique ultimately “saved him.” Despite attempts with the Heimlich maneuver, which proved unsuccessful as the object was too far down, the bread method was what worked.

Kimmel recounted telling Damon’s brother that “we have got to get him to the hospital,” highlighting the seriousness of the situation. The actor, famous for his role in “Good Will Hunting,” reportedly ate bits of bread slowly to aid in dispersing the rib and allowing him to recover.

Despite their long-standing playful rivalry, Kimmel emphasized the spontaneous nature of the incident, explaining he initially chose Damon at random, aiming to pick an A-list star they wouldn’t normally bump from his show. He added, “People laugh every time I say it, and although I repeat the joke every night, it never gets old.”