Ben Affleck and "Jeopardy!" champion Jamie Ding have won the $1 million grand prize on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." The pair successfully answered the 15th and final question during Wednesday night's episode of the game show, with the winnings designated for Affleck's foundation, the Eastern Congo Initiative.
The episode saw Affleck, 53, and Ding with only two questions remaining at its start. The $500,000 question asked, "What achievement occurred just two months after a New York Times article said it wouldn’t happen for ‘1 million to 10 million years’?" The options provided were the first airplane flight, splitting the atom, cloning a mammal, and the polio vaccine.
Ding initially suggested the first airplane flight, an answer Affleck supported, recalling a New York Times article that he believed was about the Wright brothers. After using the 50:50 lifeline, which removed splitting the atom and cloning a mammal from the choices, they confirmed the first airplane flight as the correct answer.
For the million-dollar question, they were asked, "In an annual Thanksgiving tradition, all but which of these have been the names of turkeys pardoned by a US president?" The choices were Peanut Butter & Jelly, Tater & Tot, Mac & Cheese, and Spaghetti & Meatball. Affleck suggested using the Phone-A-Friend lifeline, but Ding's friend did not answer in time. Following host Jimmy Kimmel's advice, they selected "Spaghetti and Meatball" and secured the $1 million prize.
Affleck and Ding celebrated their win with confetti falling around them. Last year, "Jeopardy!" star Ken Jennings and actor Matt Damon also won the $1 million prize on the show, playing together as friends of Kimmel.