Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Matt Damon Brilliantly Rips Reporter's Claim That Job Security Is What Drives Teachers To Work Hard In Resurfaced Clip

Matt Damon Brilliantly Rips Reporter's Claim That Job Security Is What Drives Teachers To Work Hard In Resurfaced Clip
Reason.tv

A clip of the actor defending teachers during the 2011 Save Our Schools rally in D.C. has resurfaced—and fans are loving it.

A resurfaced clip of Matt Damon going in on a reporter's absurd claim about teacher pay has gone viral all over again, and has people cheering the actor on.

The clip was filmed at a 2011 Save Our Schools rally in Washington DC, where thousands gathered to protect the Obama Administration's education policies, which focused heavily on standardized testing. Damon flew in to attend the rally with his mom, who is a teacher.


While there, he was interviewed by Michelle Fields, a reporter from libertarian news organization Reason, who claimed teachers have no incentive to be good at their jobs because they have "job security" thanks to teacher's unions, tenure and other protections.

Fields later went on to work for Steve Bannon's far-right outlet Breitbart, in case her biases weren't immediately apparent. You can see how well her right-wing talking points went over with Damon and his mom back in 2011, below.

The reporter attempted to draw a parallel between how gutting the entertainment industry can be and how little adversity teachers supposedly face.

She asked Damon:

"There isn't job security [in acting], right? There's an incentive to work hard and be a better actor because you want to have a job, so why isn't it like that for teachers?"

Ooh, good old-fashioned right-wing "bootstrap" nonsense and slagging off teachers as lazy, entitled moochers in one go? This must be some kind of Republican—er, sorry, Libertarian (same thing)—hat trick! Damon was having none of it.

"So you think job insecurity is what makes me work hard?"

When the reporter again tried to make her case that "job security" is somehow bad, Damon cut her off and hit her with the truth.

"See, you take this MBA-style thinking, right? It's the problem with ed policy right now. This intrinsically paternalistic view of problems that are much more complex than that."

He then said what the reporter didn't seem to have the guts to come out and say, before underlining how intergalactically stupid her point is.

"It's like saying a teacher is going to get lazy when they have tenure, a teacher wants to teach!"
"I mean, why else would you take a sh-tty salary and really long hours and do that job unless you really love to do it?"

Even the cameraman jumped into the fray, claiming that "10% of teachers" are bad at their jobs, which he defended by saying that "10% of any profession" are bad at their jobs. Damon again went for the jugular, calling him out for his made-up statistic by saying, "maybe you're just a sh-tty cameraman!" Game, set, match.

People on social media have been applauding Damon all over again for the resurfaced clip.







Anyone who's a critic of teachers should spend a single day in the teaching profession—except they wouldn't make it 15 minutes. End of discussion.

More from Entertainment/celebrities

Screenshots from Dove's ad featuring transgender women
Dove

'One Million Moms' Calls For Dove Boycott Over Hair Care Ad Featuring Trans Woman

The vehemently transphobic conservative group One Million Moms (OMM)—an arm of the Christian fundamentalist nonprofit American Family Association (AFA)—called for a boycott of Dove products after the company featured a transgender woman in an advertisement for their Damage Therapy Intensive Repair Conditioner.

The ad garnered attention after it was shared by the social media account Libs of TikTok—run by the anti-LGBTQ+ conservative Chaya Raichik—which described the ad as an example of "another woke company trying to erase women."

Keep ReadingShow less
Alyssa Milano; Julian McMahon
Michael Kovac/Elton John AIDS Foundation/Getty Images; Marcus Ingram/The Surfer/Getty Images

Alyssa Milano Shares Poignant Tribute To 'TV Husband' Julian McMahon After His Death At 56

Actor Julian McMahon lost his battle with cancer at the age of 56 earlier this week, and to say that the Charmed, Nip/Tuck, and Fantastic Four actor touched many lives would be an understatement.

When the news of McMahon's passing went public, his Charmed costar and "TV wife" Alyssa Milano came forward and expressed her sadness and condolences on Instagram. The pair were a favorite couple on Charmed, and it was clear from her post that their care for each other extended beyond the screen.

Keep ReadingShow less

People Who Slept With Their Best Friend Describe The Aftermath

When two people have a deep and meaningful friendship, the question might eventually come up of whether or not they could be more. Agreeing that their friendship might deserve more, they might try to date or at least explore physical intimacy.

But crossing that line carries with it consequences, and it's only once the pair crosses that line that they'll find out if crossing it was good or bad.

Keep ReadingShow less
child writing on chalkboard
Leonardo Toshiro Okubo on Unsplash

Bilingual People Explain Which Words They're Surprised Don't Exist In English

According to one report, approximately 3.3 billion people worldwide—43 % of the population—are multilingual, meaning they speak at least two languages. According to the last Census, 21.6% of people in the United States speak more than one language, while in the United Kingdom, the number is 36%.

More multilingual people speak English as a second language than English speakers who have learned another language besides English. Worldwide, people who learned English as a first language rate among the lowest in multilingual rates.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andrew Garfield at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival
Harry Durrant/Getty Images

Andrew Garfield meets fan with wild tweet!

American actor Andrew Garfield had a funny yet awkward reunion with a fan from a viral “Thirst Tweet” featured on Buzzfeed Celeb.

The Thirst Tweet compilation shows celebrities reading a collection of scandalous tweets from fans commenting on their looks, attractiveness, and sex appeal. Blushing stars include James McAvoy, Renee Rapp, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Mackie, and more recently, Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem, as they promote F1 the Movie that was released in theaters last week.

Keep ReadingShow less