Jimmy Kimmel jokes that he hopes Matt Damon never gets nominated for an Oscar again

Jimmy Kimmel will be back to host the Academy Awards this year, marking his third time as master of ceremonies for Hollywood's biggest night. But the comedian and late-night host is very happy that a certain someone may not attend the ceremony.

That would be his longtime frenemy Matt Damon, with whom he's been "feuding" for years.

"I'm thrilled that he won't show," Kimmel said playfully in a new interview with PEOPLE ahead of this year's Oscars. "I hope he never gets nominated again."

Kimmel's previous Oscars hosting gigs weren't without incident. His first, in 2017, included the infamous snafu in which the prize for Best Picture was accidentally awarded to La La Land before the record was corrected and Moonlight was given the trophy. Which, according to Kimmel, all comes back to Damon.

"I believe that his presence in some way caused the envelope mix-up," Kimmel deadpanned to PEOPLE.

Despite making Damon the constant butt of his jokes — the longest-running one involves cutting Damon's guest spots on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the last second — Kimmel actually considers the actor a close friend. They even experienced that 2017 Best Picture debacle together.

"Jokes aside, I was sitting next to Matt when that literally unfolded, and he figured out what was going on a couple of seconds before I did," Kimmel said. "His version of the story is that I figured it out before he did. So whatever the case, neither one of us knew what the hell was going on."

Still, knowing the two of them, the comedian's latest remarks might just be a cover, and Damon will, in fact, make a surprise appearance at his year's ceremony in one of Kimmel's bits.

The 95th Academy Awards will air live Sunday, March 12, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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