Ben Affleck wins $1 million prize in ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,’ and it’s one year after his best friend Matt Damon did the same

Ben Affleck has officially taken home the top $1 million prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, marking a massive win for his charity, Variety reported. He managed to pull off this impressive feat with some expert assistance from Jeopardy champion Jamie Ding.

It is honestly pretty wild to see this happen just about one year after his best friend and Good Will Hunting co-star, Matt Damon, accomplished the exact same thing. Damon also teamed up with a Jeopardy legend, specifically host Ken Jennings, to secure his own million-dollar victory for charity.

The stakes were incredibly high during the final question, which focused on which turkeys were not pardoned by a U.S. president. The options were Peanut Butter & Jelly, Tater & Tot, Mac & Cheese, or Spaghetti & Meatball. Neither Affleck nor Ding knew the answer off the top of their heads, so they had to get creative with their lifelines.

They first turned to host Jimmy Kimmel

Kimmel admitted he wasn’t 100 percent sure but leaned toward Spaghetti & Meatball. They followed that up by using their phone-a-friend lifeline to reach out to Ding’s longtime trivia partner, Stephen Morrison. Morrison couldn’t confirm the answer, so the final decision rested on Affleck’s confidence in the host. Affleck decided to trust the process, saying, “I would bet on Jimmy,” and, “I would go for it.”

You could really feel the tension in the room when Ding locked in the answer. Kimmel even admitted, “I have such a stomach ache right now,” as they waited for the reveal. When the show confirmed that Spaghetti & Meatball was indeed the correct answer, the reaction was pure joy. Confetti filled the studio as the pair celebrated their massive win.

This victory is a big deal because the funds are going directly to the Eastern Congo Initiative. This organization is the first U.S. based advocacy and grant-making group dedicated to supporting the people living in that specific African region.

Affleck and Ding are now the fifth winners of the show since Kimmel began his tenure in April 2020. The list of winners is pretty impressive, starting with David Chang in November 2020. Following him, we saw pairs like Ike and Alan Barinholtz in August 2024, Damon and Jennings in July 2025, and The Office stars Oscar Nuñez and Kate Flannery in September 2025.

Back in July, Kimmel shared his thoughts on the duo, noting that he wasn’t entirely sure if Affleck realized he was being paired with a trivia champion when he first signed on. Kimmel mentioned, “I’m not sure Ben knew that he was paired with a champion when he agreed to do the show. But when I told him, he seemed surprised and delighted. I think he was prepared to do it on his own. He’s very smart, that Ben Affleck.”