Matt Damon 'agrees' with people angry over his diversity comments

Matt Damon says he "agrees" with those who were angered by his recent diversity comments.

He made comments on his reality show Project Greenlight that implied diversity behind the camera wasn't as important as on-screen.

The HBO programme selects a first-time director to make a feature film.

Matt said: "When we're talking about diversity you do it in the casting of the film, not in the casting of the show."

It was in response to black film producer Effie Brown, who asked the group to be mindful of selecting a diverse directorial team.

He's since apologised for what he said.

Speaking at the premiere of his new movie, The Martian, Matt said he wasn't surprised by the backlash.

He told Newsbeat: "When I saw the clip, I understood it because it was not in context. So, no (to being surprised at the backlash), I understand it.

"Look, it's a very sensitive subject and the shame of it for me is that I agree with the people who were upset.

"So, that part was a little difficult. But in terms of our own Greenlight contest, we ended up with a group of 20 finalists. 16 or 17 were white men and we have to recruit more aggressively in other areas and do better so that our contestant pool is more diverse.

"Because all kinds of people are making movies and all kinds of people want to make movies. And the whole point of Greenlight is to give people access, so we've got to do a better job. And we will."

Fans took to Twitter to show their disappointment over Damon's comments.

#Damonsplaining became a trend on social media.

In his new film The Martian, Matt plays an astronaut who has been left behind on Mars during a mission.

His performance is already attracting Oscar buzz.

Also in the movie is Kristen Wiig, Jessica Chastain and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Chiwetel was asked what he thought of Matt's comments on the show and he told Newsbeat: "Well, I don't know if I saw the entire context of it, so I don't really know if I can really speak about it in that sense.

"Diversity is going to be something that we're going to have to carry on working at and there seems to be a kind of cottage industry of trying to make that as narrow as possible.

"But we're going to try and do our best."

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