Amy Poehler once thought she had genuinely upset Matt Damon after a joke at the Golden Globes. Feeling guilty, she even tried to make things right with a thoughtful gesture.
Years later, the actress finally looked back on the hilarious mix-up with Damon himself, revealing how George Clooney secretly orchestrated one of his most memorable celebrity pranks.
George Clooney Secretly Pulled Matt Damon Into The Prank
Matt Damon appeared on the July 7 episode of Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, where the two actors chatted about George Clooney’s long-running love of elaborate pranks. While reminiscing, Poehler admitted that practical jokes have never been her thing.
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Their conversation soon turned to one of Clooney’s most famous pranks. It all started after Tina Fey and Poehler hosted the 2014 Golden Globes, where they joked about Clooney’s film Gravity. Fey introduced the movie by saying, “The story of how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age.”
Although Clooney laughed along with the joke during the ceremony, he quietly started planning his revenge. Instead of targeting Poehler and Fey directly, he used Matt Damon, who had recently made the jump from movies to television with Behind the Candelabra.
Poehler recalled that they had also teased Damon during the Golden Globes, joking that his move to television had made him a “garbage person” because he was no longer in the movie category.
“We made a joke that now that you were on TV, you’re basically a ‘garbage person’ because you were just there for TV and you weren’t in the movie section anymore,” Poehler told Damon. “And you, of course, laughed and played along with it.”
Poehler And Tina Fey Sent Fruit Baskets Before Learning The Truth
A few days later, Poehler and Fey received what looked like a heartfelt letter signed by Damon. In it, he claimed their joke had “really hurt” his feelings. Poehler then asked Damon if Clooney had warned him in advance, saying, “Now, did he tell you he was gonna do it?”. “No,” Damon replied.
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“The way I found out —and by the way, the only reason I found out— was because you guys sent me some, like, fruit baskets or something. And I was like, I was so bewildered.”
Poehler explained that she and Fey were never completely convinced the letter was genuine. Even so, they decided to play it safe and apologize anyway. “We were like, we think this is a prank, but we were covering our bases,” she said.
Damon also revealed that the story did not end there. More than a decade ago, he shared one of Poehler and Fey’s follow-up apology letters on David Letterman’s Late Show. While reading it aloud, he quoted, “If your note is part of some George Clooney prank, as I very strongly suspect it is, you A-list amateurs are going to have to step it the f— up.”
He continued reading the letter, which ended with another hilarious message from the comedy duo. “We are not some easily confused starlets you’re dealing with here. We are grown-a–, professional comedians. Please accept this fruit as a token of our sincerity. Best wishes, Elizabeth Tina Fey, Amy ‘Boston’ Poehler.”
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