Damon apologized for the Greenlight gaffe, telling People, "I believe deeply that there need to be more diverse filmmakers making movies ... My comments were part of a much broader conversation about diversity in Hollywood and the fundamental nature of Project Greenlight which did not make the show. I am sorry that they offended some people, but, at the very least, I am happy that they started a conversation about diversity in Hollywood. That is an ongoing conversation that we all should be having."
Later, he made excuses in The Hollywood Reporter. "There was some context taken out," he said, adding that when he saw the episode's final cut he noticed why everyone was angry. "'Oh my God, I look like an a**hole,'" he recalled upon watching the show. "I thought it was a really insensitive thing to say."
He didn't stop there, lamenting to The New York Times, "The idea that I would say that there didn't need to be diversity behind the camera, it's not only complete anathema to what I believe in my heart and always have. But it's not something that I think anybody would ever say with a camera on... what I actually said was, 'Are we judging a contest or are we casting a reality show?' And that's when she said, 'Wow.' And I went, 'No, Effie, I'm completely serious, what is our responsibility at this point?' Because we had already blown it on the competition."
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7XCpKCsr5mbwW%2BvzqZmamhhaoV4e9KhmJ2xXai2pbGMppitrF2Zrq67zWg%3D