Jimmy Kimmel got visibly emotional on Wednesday while honouring his oldest friend and former colleague Adam Carolla at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, delivering a speech that was equal parts roast and heartfelt tribute.
Kimmel began by recounting how the two first crossed paths in 1994, when he was working on Kevin and Bean, a Los Angeles radio show on KROQ.
Carolla, who was then working as a boxing instructor, called in and was brought on to train Kimmel for a boxing match.
His opening on air gave a pretty clear indication of the dynamic that would define their friendship.
“Adam told ‘Kevin and Bean,’ ‘Jimmy is 160 pounds of pure chiseled steel. Unfortunately, he weighs 225,'” Kimmel recalled.
The training sessions themselves were less than rigorous.
“We did very little training. We would box for about eight minutes and then drink Snapple and go to lunch,” Kimmel said.
“As a result, I lost that fight, but I gained a life partner. And if that sounds gay to you, it was and it is.”
He also called Carolla “one of the funniest people” he has ever met and described him as “the Laverne to my Shirley.”
The speech turned more sincere as Kimmel reflected on what Carolla has built over the years, acknowledging their political differences without letting those get in the way of his admiration.
“Adam and I, as you probably know, don’t agree much when it comes to politics, but I love him dearly,” he said.
“I’ve never worked with anyone funnier. I am proud of him … this is a guy who worked his way up from nothing to become, literally, a millionaire, and if you don’t believe it you’ll hear him say it every single show.”
He closed with a line that captured both the absurdity and the significance of the occasion.
“Adam is a true original. He was a poor kid from the San Fernando Valley who was rejected by the management at Taco Bell, and whose name will now forever be part of this filthy, disgusting intersection.”
Carolla receives his star in the Radio category, a fitting acknowledgement given that his podcast, The Adam Carolla Podcast, became one of the most downloaded in the world.
The pair’s creative partnership spans decades, taking in Comedy Central’s The Man Show and Crank Yankers through Jackhole Productions, as well as Carolla’s later late-night show Too Late.
He is also a New York Times bestselling author. Dr. Drew Pinsky also spoke at the ceremony, with Adam Weissler serving as emcee.
