Ben Affleck Skips Red Carpet to Pal Around With Matt Damon—and Fans Love It

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are besties for life—as proven by the latest videos from the 2024 Golden Globe Awards!

Affleck, who presented at the 81st annual show, skipped the event's red carpet portion, leaving his wife and pop superstar, Jennifer Lopez, to rock it solo as she showed off her bubblegum pink Barbie-inspired creation (don't worry, photogs later snapped plenty of loved-up photos of Hollywood's "it" couple).

So what was Affleck doing instead? Catching up with his lifelong buddy, who he's been friends with since he was 8 years old!

In one wholesome video shared from behind the scenes of Hollywood's big night, the 51-year-old actor snuck up to surprise his Air co-star and longtime friend.

The moment was met with a warm and hearty laugh from Damon and his wife, Luciana Barroso, right before the 53-year-old embraced Affleck and put him in a friendly chokehold.

"Best bromance in Hollywood," one fan commented, as another added, "that’s his partner in crime right there they’ve been friends forever."

"There should be an award for best friendship in movie industry," another quipped of the lasting friendship—and there's no doubt it would go to these two, who others referred to as "best friend goals."

In fact, a shot of the good friends taken at this year's Golden Globes is similar to a snap of them beaming as they attended their very first ceremony in 1998, during which they both won for Good Will Hunting.

Damon is an eight-time nominee, scoring a nod this year for his performance in the duo's latest joint film. Affleck is no stranger to the Golden Globes either, having been nominated a total of four times over 25 years—of which he’s taken home two wins. In addition to the 1998 win, he also picked up 2013’s “Best Director- Motion Picture” for Argo.

During a 2023 interview with Willie Geist, Damon said that his friendship with Affleck is one of the "three most significant partnerships in my life," with the other two being with his wife and Gary White, who works with Damon as co-founder of Water.org.

After dazzling the red carpet all on her own, Lopez joined the trio for a double date of sorts.

Affleck and Lopez’s marriage—they officially tied the knot in July 2022—was 20 years in the making as the couple, who met on the set of Gigli in 2001, previously called off their engagement in 2004.

The three A-listers have a very busy year ahead of them, with IMDB noting that Affleck is set to star and produce a handful of films, Damon has a total of eight upcoming projects in the works, while Lopez will star in Kiss of the Spider Woman, Atlas, and The Godmother, all while dropping her ninth studio album in February, titled This Is Me… Now.

The Golden Globes aired live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ on Sunday, Jan 7.

Next, The Best, Worst and Wildest Moments from the 2024 Golden Globe Awards