Lionel Hahn/Getty Images
- The actor said he "retired" the slur after his daughter wrote a treatise on why the word is dangerous months ago.
- He told The Sunday Times the word "was commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application."
- Damon added that the recent cultural shift has led him to "shut the f— up more."
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Matt Damon said he stopped using the homophobic word "f—-t" after one of his daughters told him not to in a "treatise" months ago, reported the UK's Sunday Times.
"I made a joke – months ago – and got a treatise from my daughter," the Oscar-winning 50-year-old actor said.
"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," he recounted.
"The word that my daughter calls the 'f-slur for a homosexual' was commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application," he continued.
The actor has three daughters aged 15, 12, and 10, with his wife of 16 years, Luciana Barroso.
This is not the first time the actor landed himself in hot water over controversial comments.
During the filming in 2015 of "Project Greenlight" - a documentary series that features first-time filmmakers - Damon was blasted for disregarding his Black colleague Effie Brown's concerns about needing diversity on set. He later apologized for his comment, reported Variety.
In 2017, when multiple sexual allegations against disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein emerged, Damon said: "As the father of four daughters, this is the kind of sexual predation that keeps me up at night."
New York magazine writer Hunter Harris - and many others - blasted Damon for the comment.
"You don't need a daughter to feel guilty about working with a man who preys on young women," Harris wrote. "You just need a conscience."
Damon addressed this in his interview with The Times, saying he understood now why he was criticized, adding, "it's a fair point. Anybody should be offended by that behavior."
Recent cultural shifts have made him "shut the f*** up more," the "Good Will Hunting" actor said. "Before, it didn't really matter what I said because it didn't make the news."
More recently, the "Stillwater" actor was called out by Amanda Knox for making a movie at the expense of her personal trauma and without her consent.
In 2007, Knox was convicted for the murder of her roommate while she was studying in Italy and spent four years in prison. Italy's highest court later overturned the charge in 2015. The movie "Stillwater" is based on her story.