Matt Damon found himself caught up in a hoax bomb scare on Saturday evening while holidaying in Mykonos with wife Luciana Barroso.
The Mykonos Police Sub-Directorate took immediate action after receiving an anonymous email at 11:00pm, falsely claiming explosive devices had been placed in four beach bars across the Greek island, a popular tourist destination.
With an estimated 4,000 revellers enjoying a night out on Saturday, bar owners were urged to lower music levels and guide patrons the exits in a calm and orderly manner.
Damon, who has spent the last week in Mykonos with his family, was among those in the third targeted venue as they were promptly evacuated.
In social media content filmed at the scene the actor, 53, appeared calm and amenable as he followed instructions and made his way outside.
Matt Damon found himself caught up in a hoax bomb scare on Saturday evening while visiting a beach bar in Mykonos (pictured during the evacuation)
Damon has been holidaying in Mykonos with wife Luciana Barroso and their children for the last week (pictured in Mykonos on July 12)
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In the Paranga area, where two of the four beach bars were located, as many as 4,000 tourists were out when the evacuations took place.
The subsequent demand for vehicles as customers left the scene sparked traffic jams on at least half of the island’s roads.
Describing the scene, one bar owner told Greek outlet Protothema: ‘Upon receiving notification from the police, we promptly reduced the music and calmly guided our guests to safety.
‘It was a challenging situation, but we managed to maintain order.’
Local police later confirmed the threat was a hoax.
Damon is holidaying on the island with wife Luciana and their four daughters, Alexia, 25, Isabella, 18, Gia, 15, and Stella, 13.
Alexia, Damon’s stepdaughter, was four-years old when he met Luciana in a crowded Miami nightclub in 2003, while he was filming Stuck On You on location in Florida.
‘Matt’s story is that he saw me across the room and there was a light on me. And I’m like: ‘Yeah it was a nightclub – there were lights everywhere!’ Luciana said in a rare interview with Vogue in 2018.
Damon with wife Luiciana and their children Isabella, 18, Gia, 15, and Stella, 13, in 2023
The Hollywood star with wife Luciana in Mykonos during their latest European holiday
Even though she felt a spark with the Hollywood star, she was reticent to act on it because she had a young daughter.
‘But I was like: “I can’t, I have a four-year-old daughter, I’m not going anywhere”… and that was one of the things he loved, that I had a daughter,’ she explained.
The couple confirmed their engagement in September 2005 and wed nearly three months later in a private civil ceremony at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau.
‘He said: “I love that you’re a mum and that’s your priority.” Some guys might have been different, they might think it’s complicated, but for him it wasn’t.’