Ben Affleck Wins $1 Million on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' for Eastern Congo Initiative
Ben Affleck won the $1 million top prize on ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" on 30 July 2026, answering a final question about presidential turkey pardons and sending the money to his Eastern Congo Initiative charity.
Affleck was paired with Jamie Ding, a "Jeopardy!" champion, in the celebrity edition format where contestants compete alongside a trivia expert. They are the fifth pair to take home the top prize during Jimmy Kimmel's tenure as host, which began in April 2020.
The $1 million question asked which turkeys were NOT pardoned by a U.S. president. The correct answer was "Spaghetti & Meatball."
Getting there took some work. Affleck and Ding deployed the "Ask the Host" lifeline, where the host offers a guess. Kimmel suggested "Spaghetti & Meatball" but said he was not 100% sure. They then used "Phone a Friend" to call Stephen Morrison, Ding's longtime trivia partner. Morrison did not know the answer and declined to guess. With both lifelines spent and no certainty from their helpers, Affleck and Ding committed to the answer themselves.
Kimmel told Variety in July 2025 that he was not sure Affleck knew he would be paired with a champion when he agreed to appear on the show. Whatever Affleck expected, the pairing paid off.
The win also lands Affleck on a notable list. The previous four top-prize winners during Kimmel's run were David Chang (November 2020), Ike and Alan Barinholtz (August 2024), Matt Damon and Ken Jennings (July 2025), and Oscar Nuñez and Kate Flannery (September 2025), according to Variety.
Damon's win carries an extra wrinkle. He took the million almost exactly one year before Affleck, paired with "Jeopardy!" host Ken Jennings. Affleck and Damon have been friends and collaborators for decades, and now both have million-dollar game show wins to their names.
For the Eastern Congo Initiative, the charity Affleck co-founded to support economic and social development in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the prize is a concrete result: $1 million directed by a correct answer on a quiz show.
