Ben Affleck and 'Jeopardy!' champ Jamie Ding win $1 million on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' for Congo charity

The million-dollar turkey question

Ben Affleck and Jeopardy! champion Jamie Ding faced the final question on the July 29 episode of ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire": which pair of food-themed names had never been used for a turkey pardoned by a U.S. president at Thanksgiving? The options were Peanut Butter & Jelly, Tater & Tot, Mac & Cheese, and Spaghetti & Meatball. Affleck, stunned, asked, "Are you kidding me?" Neither knew the answer. They used their Ask-the-Host lifeline, and host Jimmy Kimmel guessed Spaghetti & Meatball, joking, "I could imagine putting a big bowl in Donald Trump's hands and him slurping spaghetti and meatballs loudly." A Phone-a-Friend call to Stephen Morrison, Ding's longtime quiz partner, went unanswered. With no other lifelines, they trusted Kimmel. The answer was correct, triggering confetti and a giant novelty check for $1 million.

A $500,000 history lesson

Before the turkey question, the pair had to answer a $500,000 question: "What achievement occurred just two months after a New York Times article said it wouldn't happen for '1 million to 10 million years'?" Ding immediately suggested the first airplane flight, and Affleck agreed, recalling a period when he looked up press errors. "I only remember this because it was a time in my life where I spent time looking up examples that the press got things wrong," Affleck said. They used the 50:50 lifeline, which left the first flight and splitting the atom. Ding argued, "People don't go outside and look at the sky and dream of splitting the atom, but we all dream of flying." Affleck backed him: "My man, I came here with you. Take us. I'm with you." Kimmel confirmed the Wright brothers flew in 1903, calling the Times "cynical, disbelieving bastards."

Charity in the Congo

The entire $1 million prize goes to the Eastern Congo Initiative, the nonprofit Affleck co-founded with Whitney Williams in 2010. The organization provides grants to community-based groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, a region Affleck said has been "severely impacted by a very traumatic war." Affleck has been involved with the cause for over a decade, and the game-show windfall will directly support local advocacy and development projects.

A club of celebrity winners

Affleck and Ding join a growing list of celebrity-millionaires on the Kimmel-hosted revival. Last year, Affleck's childhood friend Matt Damon won the top prize alongside Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings. Other winners include restaurateur David Chang, the father-son duo Ike and Alan Barinholtz, and "The Office" actors Oscar Nuñez and Kate Flannery. Ding, a New Jersey state employee, had already earned $882,605 on Jeopardy! this spring with 31 consecutive wins, becoming the fifth-highest earner in the show's history. During the phone call, Ding mentioned Damon's name, prompting Kimmel to joke, "Are you looking for trouble? I don't want trouble, man. I just want you to win."

Friends and champions

Affleck and Damon grew up blocks apart in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and co-wrote "Good Will Hunting," winning an Oscar for best original screenplay in 1998. They have since appeared together in films like "Dogma," "The Last Duel," and "Air." Now both have claimed the "Millionaire" jackpot within a year, each directing the money to charity. For Affleck, the win was as much about the cause as the game: the Eastern Congo Initiative will receive the full $1 million, turning a trivia triumph into tangible aid for communities thousands of miles from the Hollywood studio.