Matt Damon says he stopped using the 'f-slur' after daughter wrote him a 'treatise' on why it's 'dangerous'

Matt Damon said in a new interview that he stopped using what his daughter calls "the f-slur for a homosexual" after she wrote him a treatise explaining "how that word is dangerous."

In an article posted by the Sunday Times, the Stillwater actor was discussing "changes in modern masculinity" when he launched into a story about why he stopped using the offensive term, which he says "was commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application."

"I made a joke, months ago, and got a treatise from my daughter," Damon told the Times. "She left the table. I said, 'Come on, that's a joke! I say it in the movie Stuck on You!' She went to her room and wrote a very long, beautiful treatise on how that word is dangerous. I said, 'I retire the f-slur!' I understood."

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During the interview, Damon also reflected on a previous comment he had made regarding the sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein in 2017.

Damon had said: "As the father of four daughters, this is the kind of sexual predation that keeps me up at night." Damon received a fair amount of backlash, with the argument being that everyone should be offended by that behaviour, not just fathers of daughters.

Damon then told the Times that he tries to "shut the f--k up more" so that what he says doesn't make headlines.

"Twenty years ago, the best way I can put it is that the journalist listened to the music more than the lyrics [of an interview]," Damon said. "Now your lyrics are getting parsed, to pull them out of context and get the best headline possible. Everyone needs clicks. Before it didn't really matter what I said, because it didn't make the news. But maybe this shift is a good thing. So I shut the f--k up more."

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Representatives for Damon did not immediately respond to Variety's request for comment.

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