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Jimmy Kimmel got choked up paying tribute to Adam Carolla at the latter’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony.
The comedian said that he is “proud” of Carolla although they “don’t agree much when it comes to politics.”
Kimmel also called Carolla “the Laverne to my Shirley.”
Jimmy Kimmel is paying tribute to one of his oldest friends.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live host shared emotional remarks at Adam Carolla’s Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The comedian began his speech by recalling his first encounter with Carolla while working on the Los Angeles radio show Kevin and Bean in 1994.
“One morning, we got a knock on the back door,” Kimmel remembered. “There was a man there, he said he was a boxing instructor. I was getting ready to fight another guy who was on the show. This boxing instructor wanted to train the other guy, but I answered the door, so he got me instead.”
Byron Allen, Drew Pinsky, Adam Carolla, Joel McHale, and Jimmy Kimmel in Los Angeles on May 27, 2026
Credit: Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
Kimmel said that Carolla delivered a pretty brutal roast when he first appeared on the radio.
“The first time we put Adam on the air, Adam told Kevin and Bean, ‘Jimmy is 160 pounds of pure chiseled steel. Unfortunately, he weighs 225,'” he recalled.
“We did very little training,” Kimmel continued. “We would box for about eight minutes and then drink Snapple and go to lunch. 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.”
Kimmel went on to praise Carolla’s comedic talents as he remembered working with the comedian on The Man Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“And then, eventually, Adam started his own podcast, which allowed him to do what he loved to do most,” Kimmel said. “Which is: talk and talk and talk and talk with his eyes closed so you can’t break in and his ears squeezed shut.”
The late-night host also pointed out the irony in Carolla being honored in a state that he detests.
“It’s funny that we’re even in Hollywood right now because Adam famously announced that he hates California so much he would be moving out of the state as soon as his kids graduated high school,” he said. “That announcement was made, I think, six years ago. Now his kids are saying, ‘You know what, we’ll move when you graduate high school!'”
Adam Carolla poses with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on May 27, 2026
Credit: John Salangsang/Shutterstock
Kimmel then delivered some genuine remarks about his buddy.
“Adam and I, as you probably know, don’t agree much when it comes to politics,” he said, referring to Carolla’s conservative leanings. “But I love him dearly. I’ve never worked with anyone funnier.”
Kimmel got visibly and audibly choked up as he said, “I am proud of him. I am.”
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He continued, “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. 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 next to a bank that has been abandoned for like 35 years.”
Kimmel concluded, “I am pleased to welcome the Laverne to my Shirley, my friend Adam Carolla, to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
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