Jimmy Kimmel broke down in tears throughout an emotional monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Reside! as he paid tribute to his lifelong buddy and bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III, who handed away earlier that day.
“We’ve been on the air for nearly 23 years and I’ve needed to do some onerous monologues alongside the best way,” Kimmel started, visibly emotional. “However this one’s the toughest as a result of late final evening, early this morning, we misplaced somebody very particular who was too younger to go.”
Kimmel and Escobedo’s friendship started after they had been youngsters rising up in Las Vegas. The host fondly recalled their adventures, inside jokes and lifelong bond. “We had so many adventures. We laughed so onerous. We had our personal language that just about nobody else understood,” Kimmel shared. “We didn’t should say something. We’d sit right here at rehearsal every single day… I knew he was interested by me, and I used to be interested by him. We have a look at one another like this, and that might be it.”
Kimmel reminisced about their shared love of David Letterman and the way surreal it was to seem on The Late Present for the primary time in 1999. He praised Escobedo as a “youngster prodigy” on the saxophone, noting that his musical expertise led him to tour with Paula Abdul earlier than becoming a member of Jimmy Kimmel Reside! in 2003.
When Kimmel landed his late-night gig, he knew he wished Escobedo by his facet. He additionally shared how significant it was to reunite Escobedo along with his father — each of whom performed within the present’s band. “The one neatest thing about doing this present was getting the chance to deliver Cleto and his dad collectively in a band,” Kimmel mentioned. “Everybody loves Cleto. Everybody right here on the present — we’re devastated by this. It’s simply not honest. He was the nicest, most humble, form, and all the time humorous individual.”
Kimmel managed so as to add a contact of humor amid his grief, recalling that his buddy “liked to indicate his ass to others,” maintaining the playful mooning custom from their childhood.
“Though I’m heartbroken to lose him, I’m going to take one more lesson from him and acknowledge how fortunate I used to be to have him at my facet for therefore a few years,” Kimmel mentioned, earlier than asserting the present would take a brief break.
Earlier that day, Kimmel additionally shared a heartfelt Instagram publish, calling Escobedo “an ideal buddy, father, son, musician, and man.” He added, “Cherish your mates and please preserve Cleto’s spouse, kids, and fogeys in your prayers.”
In his monologue, the late evening host additionally shared that he’d be taking “the following couple of nights off” to grieve.
