Songs in the Key of F

Last week, late night TV talk show host Jimmy Kimmel launched the video "I'm F---ing Ben Affleck" in retaliation for his girlfriend and fellow comedian Sarah Silverman's viral video "I'm F---ing Matt Damon." He spoke to Ramin Setoodeh. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: Could you tell me how this whole thing got started? Did Sarah go behind your back and record the video with Matt Damon?
Jimmy Kimmel: That was a genuine surprise. She brought it on the show and showed it. It was supposed to be for my 40th-birthday show. But instead, since we were on strike, we aired it during my fifth-anniversary show.

You saw it live for the first time with everyone else?
Yeah. I didn't even know what was on the tape. It may be the first time I've been actually surprised on the show.

Did you pee yourself laughing?
No. I have pretty good control of my bladder.

Then you decided to make a video with Ben Affleck?
To be honest, I didn't think, "What am I going to do to retaliate?" because it seemed pretty invulnerable. Somebody here had the idea of Ben Affleck, and [Affleck] said, "I was thinking the same thing," and it all came together very quickly. We only shot one day, Ben and I. The next day we did studio shots. We did it on a Wednesday. We started in the morning and finished at 7 o'clock.

Did you tell Sarah?
I tried to keep it a secret, but it became too difficult. Then I realized there's no point to keeping it a secret.

Which one's better?
They're both good. But I think you have to give the edge to hers, because it's the original.

But you get points, I think, because you had more stars in yours than there were at the Oscars.
Maybe so. It really was amazing. Once Harrison Ford came onboard, it convinced a lot of people to do it.

Yes, but getting Harrison Ford is no small feat.
He ran into either Jennifer Garner or Casey Affleck at some dinner party, and he was talking about Sarah's video. They said Ben's doing one with Jimmy. Ben said you should call Harrison Ford and ask him if he wants to be in it. Right away he said yes.

How did you get Brad Pitt?
We just called and asked him. We sent the idea, and he thought it was funny, and made a little time for it.

Cameron Diaz?
Yes, she was in it.

These are hard people to get! They were all there on the same day, and you're very casual about it.
It's usually hard to get celebrities to do things. Now I realize if you have something good, it's not as hard.

Will there be another round?
I don't know where we go from here.

I have an idea. You could f--- Casey Affleck.
It's not really my turn. The ball is in Sarah and Matt Damon's court.

So she could f--- Jennifer Garner.
Yeah, that would be fine with me. Believe me.