Jimmy Kimmel became visibly emotional Wednesday while honoring his oldest friend and former colleague Adam Carolla at the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, giving a speech that was both a heartfelt tribute and a roast.
Kimmel began by telling how the first two crossed paths in 1994, when he was working on Kevin and Bean, a Los Angeles radio show on KROQ.
Carolla, then working as a boxing instructor, called and was hired to train Kimmel for a boxing match.
Their openness on air gave a pretty clear indication of the dynamic that would define their friendship.
“Adam told ‘Kevin and Bean,’ ‘Jimmy weighs 160 pounds of pure chiseled steel. Unfortunately, he weighs 225,'” Kimmel recalled.
The training sessions themselves were lax.
“We trained very little. 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 is.”
She also called Carolla “one of the funniest people” she has ever met and described him as “the Laverne to my Shirley.”
The speech became more candid as Kimmel reflected on what Carolla has built over the years, acknowledging his political differences without letting them get in the way of his admiration.
“Adam and I, as you probably know, don’t see eye to eye when it comes to politics, but I love him very much,” she said.
“I’ve never worked with anyone funnier. I’m proud of him…this is a guy who worked his way from nothing to literally becoming a millionaire, and if you don’t believe it, you’ll hear him say it at every 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 Taco Bell management, and whose name will now forever be a part of this disgusting, disgusting intersection.”
Carolla receives her star in the Radio category, a fitting recognition given that her podcast, The Adam Carolla PodcastIt became one of the most downloaded in the world.
The couple’s creative partnership spans decades, spanning Comedy Central The man show and Yankees cranks via Jackhole Productions, as well as Carolla’s late night after 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 master of ceremonies.
