‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Taking Week Off After Tragedy

Jimmy Kimmel Live! will take the rest of the week off as the late-night host mourns the death of his friend and bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III.

Following Escobedo’s death at age 59 on Tuesday, Kimmel will reschedule guests Danny DeVito, Howard Jones, Debbie Gibson, Jason Bateman, Mr. T, and Susanna Hoffs for his return.

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News of the pause comes after Kimmel gave an emotional monologue dedicated to his childhood best friend at the top of Tuesday’s show.

“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 because late last night, early this morning, we lost someone very special who was much too young,” Kimmel said through tears.

Kimmel recalled becoming friends with Escobedo at just 9 years old after moving to Las Vegas.

“One summer, I slept over at the Escobedo house 33 nights in a row. For real,” Kimmel recalled. “My mother used to make me get down on my knees and beg to sleep at his house in front of him. And I would gladly do it, cause we were never bored. We were always up to something.”

When Kimmel was hired at Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he made sure to bring his friend — and his friend’s father — on in his band. “I knew, ‘My best friend from growing up plays the saxophone. He could lead the band,’ wasn’t a great pitch,” Kimmel recalled. “But it had to happen. And, not only did I want Cleto to lead the band, I wanted his dad to be in the band.”

Looking back on his time with Escobedo, Kimmel went on, “We had so many adventures. We would laugh so hard. We had our own language that almost no one else understood. We didn’t have to say anything. We’d sit here at rehearsal every day. We didn’t have to look at each other.”

“Everyone loves Cleto… everyone here at the show,” Kimmel added of his late friend. “We are devastated by this. It’s not… It’s just not fair.”

“Cherish your friends. We’re not here forever,” Kimmel concluded, before revealing that he and the show would be taking “the next couple of nights off” to grieve.