Jimmy Kimmel breaks down in tears remembering Bob Saget

published 11 January 2022

Jimmy Kimmel opened Monday's Kimmel Live with a pretaped remembrance of his friend Bob Saget, who died Sunday and was universally remembered by those who knew him as "the sweetest" man, Kimmel said. He did not make it 20 seconds before choking back tears.

Saget "was so funny, and I'm not talking about Full House or America's Funniest Home Videos or stand-up comedy or movies, I mean funny for real," Kimmel said. "Like, when you walked into a party, you saw Bob and his wife, Kelly, in the corner, you go straight to them and stay for as long as you could. Because he had something funny to say about everything, and nothing bad to say about anyone. Never. If there were people he didn't like, he kept it to himself. He was — unlike me, he was a good person."

Kimmel recounted how Saget's two sisters also died young, one from a rare disease called scleroderma, and he suggested donating to the Scleroderma Research Foundation (srfcure.org) — on whose board Saget served — if viewers were so moved.

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"He was very kind to everyone, and he had no problem telling you that he loved you and what you meant to him," Kimmel said. He read a short email Saget had sent him and set up a brief clip of Saget and close friend John Stamos coming on Kimmel Live in 2017 to eulogize their mutual friend Don Rickles. Kimmel didn't quite make it through the setup. "We never imagined that four and a half years later, we'd be talking about ... I'm sorry, I taped this like 14 times, and I just ... " The clip itself is wistful and sad in it's own way, and you can watch it below.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.