The Real Reason Sarah Silverman Is, uh, Loving Matt Damon

If you haven’t already seen the hilarious video that brash comic Sarah Silverman presented to her boyfriend, late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel, last Thursday on the occasion of his show Jimmy Kimmel Live‘s fifth anniversary, please hurry up and take a look after the jump.

Many people might not realize it, but this Kimmel-Matt Damon thing started long before Silverman decided to go public with her, uh, love for the popular star in a mesmerizing video duet that is guaranteed not to go away for the rest of the year. Incidentally, the video was filmed way back in October 2007 for Kimmel’s fortieth birthday, but the writers strike put a big crimp in the plans to present it to him for that hallmark.

The fake feud between the comic and actor—yes, people, Kimmel and Damon don’t really have it out for one another—began a couple of years ago, when Kimmel picked up the habit of ending his show by apologizing to Matt Damon for running out of time, although Damon wasn’t a scheduled guest. Damon then appeared on Live in September 2006 and good-naturedly took part in an expletive-filled pretend argument when Kimmel abruptly ended the show before conducting a proper interview. Check out that clip, too, following the Silverman video after the jump.

Kimmel’s sidekick Guillermo even joined in the long-running joke when he did a few red-carpet interviews at the premiere of Ocean’s Thirteen and then played a major role in a spoof of the trailer for last year’s megahit The Bourne Ultimatum. With all of that history, I’ve got a feeling the fun and pranks aren’t over yet, which is good for all of us who can’t get enough of this stuff.