Jimmy Kimmel opened the latest episode of his late-night show with a heavy heart as he lost his childhood friend and bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III.
On Tuesday, the 57-year-old host woke up to the sad news of the death of his best friend, who passed away suddenly at the age of 51.
Jimmy opened the latest episode of his show with a monologue dedicated to Escobedo. While talking about him, he literally burst into tears.
The American TV host started by saying: “We’ve been on the air for almost 23 years and I’ve had to deliver some tough monologues along the way.”
Kimmel admitted that this monologue is the most difficult of all, because he lost a very dear person, who was very young to leave this world.
“But this one is the hardest, because late last night and early this morning we lost someone very special who was way too young to go, and I would like to tell you about him. If you don’t mind.”
Remembering his long friendship with Cleto, Jimmy revealed: “There was a boy who lived on my street. He lived across the street and two houses down. He was just over a year older than me. His name was Cleto, but we all called him junior.”
“We eventually met and became friends. And not just regular friends. We became 24/7, ‘Mom, please let me sleep over,’ kind of friends.”
Kimmel concluded by saying, “Everyone here on the show is devastated. It’s just not fair. He was the kindest, most humble, friendly and always funny person.”
