Ethermac Exchange-Minnie Driver recalls being 'devastated' by Matt Damon breakup at 1998 Oscars

The Ethermac Exchangemystery of Minnie Driver's sad expression during Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's 1998 Oscars acceptance speech has been solved.

Driver agreed with commenters who pointed her out in @movieshmood's throwback clip, posed to Instagram in October. "My face 😂😂😂😂❤️" Driver commented in October.

"Matt had ended our relationship a few weeks before this, and was at the Oscars with his new gf… I was devastated," Driver wrote in response to a commenter on Instagram who said she looked "sad."

It's unclear who the girlfriend was at the time as Damon walked the red carpet with Affleck and their respective moms.

Driver added: "Wish I could have celebrated more as it was an amazing moment for all of us, and for this wonderful film!"

The clip shows Affleck and Damon on stage accepting the award for best original screenplay. "I just said to Matt, losing would suck and winning would be really scary," Affleck says. "We're just, really, two young guys who were fortunate enough to be involved with a lot of great people ... upon whom it's incumbent upon us to thank."

They shout out Gus Van Sant "for brilliant direction" and Robin Williams, "who delivered such great lines." When the camera pans to Driver seated behind Williams, she appears forlorn as she witnesses their speech. Affleck says her "performance was brilliant" in the film.

The film was nominated for nine Oscars at the 1998 Academy Awards, winning two.

Driver and Damon met while filming the movie in 1997 and split shortly before award season. The actress spoke about her past relationship with Damon to Entertainment Tonight in May 2022, calling it a "sweet romance" that had a "combustible ending" due to the public nature.

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The "Circle of Friends" star recalled the "agony" of being bombarded by headlines about their split at grocery stores and being watched at the 1998 Oscars as videographers sought her reactions.

"There's a guy who'd been sent, the cameraman at the Academy Awards he'd literally been told to stay on me and he was so in my grill. He was like a wildlife photographer waiting for the kill," she said. "He was just waiting for the moment that I was going to break or something was going to happen or I was going to get up and scream."

Despite the drama, Driver maintained that she looks back on their romance "with love."

"I look back and it just feels really overly dramatic and kind of funny. Brutal, but funny," she added.