Jimmy Kimmel honored his late friend and Jimmy Kimmel Live bandleader Cleto Escobedo III on Tuesday night’s (November 11) episode.
The late night talk show host shared an emotional tribute to his friend of nearly 50 years, who sadly passed away this week.
Keep reading to find out more…
“We’ve been on the air for almost 23 years and I’ve had to do some hard monologues along the way,” he said at the top of the show. “But this will… This one’s the hardest because late last night, early this morning, we lost someone very special who was too young to go.”
Throughout the 20 minute tribute, Jimmy praised his late friend and shared memories from the over the years. He also thanked the doctors and nurses at UCLA Medical Center “for taking incredibly good care of him.”
Jimmy ended the tribute by noting that he’s grateful for their friends who have checked on Cleto and visited him before his passing, his neighbors for helping the family and more.
“Cherish your friends, we’re not here forever,” he shared through tears, before noting they’re taking time off from the show for the remainder of the week.
“Thank you for indulging me, we’re going to take the next couple of nights off, I wanted to be here tonight to tell you about my friend and Cleto loved Eddie Murphy and he wouldn’t have wanted us to miss this,” Jimmy said before going to a commercial break.
Eddie Murphy was one of the guests on the show tonight, along with Morgan Fairchild.
Our continued thoughts go out to Jimmy and Cleto Escobedo III‘s friends and family during this difficult time.