Jimmy Kimmel Holds Back Tears Remembering Longtime Friend Bob Saget in Late-Night Monologue

Jimmy Kimmel grew emotional as he remembered his longtime friend Bob Saget following the Full House star’s death at the age of 65. In his opening monologue of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, which was taped without an audience, the late-night host fought back tears as he paid tribute to the late comedian, who he remembered as “the sweetest man.”

Reflecting on the thousands of tributes that have poured in online since news of Saget’s death broke Sunday, Kimmel noted that “a word that came up a lot was ‘the sweetest,’” a term Kimmel agreed with. Kimmel said Saget “was the sweetest man and the reason people wrote that is because it’s true. It’s the best word, if you had to pick one word to describe him, that was it – sweetest.” Kimmel went on to share that Saget “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. Unlike me, he was a good person.”

After learning of Saget’s sudden passing, the late-night host said he searched through old emails from Saget, “and some of them were funny, and some of them were very serious emails about life and the well-being of our children, and how hard it is to appreciate one of those without the other being just right.” Growing emotional, Kimmel pulled out a printed copy of one of those emails in which they were talking about their children. The email read, “One night soon let’s go out and have some meat and some good damn drinks and talk about how lucky we are that we have them,” something Kimmel shared they did “many times.” He added that when his son Billy was hospitalized in 2017, Saget “checked in a lot” with him.

“I want to send love to his daughters, to his wife Kelly and to his friends who loved him so much, he was very kind to everyone and he had no problem telling everyone that he loved them and what you meant to him,” Kimmel concluded the emotional monologue. Saget is survived by his wife, Kelly Rizzo, and his three daughters, Aubrey, 34, Lara, 32, and Jennifer, 29, whom he shared with ex-wife, Sherri Kramer.

Known for his role as Danny Tanner on Full House and as the longtime host of America’s Funniest Home Videos, among many other credits, Saget was found dead in his Ritz-Carlton hotel room in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday. An autopsy was completed on Monday, with authorities confirming that there was no evidence of drug use or foul play. Saget’s manner and cause of death are pending further investigation.