LOS ANGELES, Jan 17 — Matt Damon has a newfound sense of tactfulness following a backlash from a comment he made in December in response to allegations of sexual misconduct surrounding comedian Louis CK.

In an interview with ABC News’ Peter Travers, he said that while women feeling empowered to share their stories of sexual harassment and mistreatment is "totally necessary,” he hoped for more attention to be paid to the "spectrum of behaviour.”

"There’s a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right? he said. "Both of those behaviours need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated, right?”

After his statement landed him in hot water, Damon told Kathie Lee on the Today show today that he’s going to "get in the back seat and close my mouth for a while.”

"A lot of those women are my dear friends and I love them and respect them and support what they’re doing and want to be a part of that change and want to go along for the ride, but I should get in the back seat and close my mouth for a while,” he told Lee.

Damon also apologised for his comments, admitting that he should have listened more before weighing in about what’s come to be known as the #MeToo movement.

He added: "I really wish I’d listened a lot more before I weighed in on this. And... ultimately, what it is for me is that I don’t want to further anybody’s pain with anything that I do or say. So, for that, I’m really sorry.”