Jimmy Kimmel has a Heartfelt Tribute to Don Rickles

We lost a great national treasure yesterday and Jimmy Kimmel seemed to be affected by the loss. Here is his heartfelt tribute to the late comedian.

With Jimmy Kimmel, we never really see him get emotional. He’s usually cracking jokes and making celebrities do idiotic things. But last night was a bit of a different show. Yesterday, Don Rickles (the famous insult comedian) died.

And while many shows gave a nod to the man, Kimmel did something more. The best part of the story was when Kimmel pointed out the moment he believed made himself and Rickles friends. Jimmy says that while everyone else would want Don to tell stories of Frank Sinatra, he’d want to ask Frank Sinatra to tell stories about Don Rickles if he could.

During the entire story, Kimmel would go from laughing and joking to crying. And really, it was truly touching to see. All of us have heroes and when it comes to Jimmy and Don, it seems that Don was a hero and a friend to Jimmy.

It was just interesting to see. He never really gets this way and it was a side of him that, while sad, truly made Jimmy into a different host in our eyes. Sometimes when we watch talk shows, we see these men as just people who stand up and make jokes and that’s it.

But Kimmel opening up like this, expressing his love of Rickles and how much he’ll miss him really changed the way I look at him. Jimmy also shared some personal messages that Don had sent him over the past few years and it was touching to see him laughing in the amidst of his very real heartbreak.

Next: Legendary Comedian Don Rickles Dead at Age 90

Our thoughts go out to Don Rickles’ family and we all truly miss his wit and jokes. May he rest in peace.