‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ to take short break following death of bandleader Cleto Escobedo III
Jimmy Kimmel has confirmed Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be off air for the rest of the week following the death of bandleader Cleto Escobedo III.
Escobedo died on November 11th, aged 59. He had been a permanent fixture on Jimmy Kimmel Live! since it first aired in 2003.
Kimmel and Escobedo had been close friends since childhood, growing up together in Los Angeles before making their ways into show business separately.
In his monologue on the November 11th episode, which aired only hours after Escobedo’s death was announced, Kimmel admitted to viewers, “We’ve been on the air for almost 23 years, and I’ve had to do some hard monologues along the way, but this one’s the hardest.”
He emotionally continued, “Early this morning we lost someone very special, who was much too young to go, and I’d like to tell you about him.”
Kimmel also said of their relationship, “He would call me. He’d send me notes all the time, big stuff, little stuff, whatever, telling me, ‘Oh, this was so funny. I love this. I’m proud of you. I’m so happy that we get to be together all the time.’ He would tell me how lucky he was. He was just a great older brother. No baggage, all love.”
The comedian then stated “there’s no one in my life I felt more comfortable with” than Escobedo, before powerfully adding, “Cherish your friends, we’re not here forever.”
Kimmel, whose guests included Eddie Murphy and Morgan Fairchild, concluded, “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 Kimmel Live! will return on November 17th. Guests such as Danny DeVito, Jason Bateman and Susanna Hoffs had been due to join him on the two episodes that have been cancelled.
In an Instagram post on November 11th, Kimmel announced news of Escobedo’s death. He wrote, “To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement. Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was nine years old.”
Kimmel then said the opportunity to work together on a daily basis was “a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true”, before encouraging people to “please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers”.
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