She’s smiling down from above. Jimmy Kimmel remembered the late Joan Rivers on his show Thursday, Sept. 4, after the comedienne passed away at 81 earlier that afternoon. Interestingly enough, Kimmel and his ex-girlfriend Sarah Silverman collaborated in their efforts to honor the comedic legend.
“I’m especially glad that Sarah is here tonight,” Kimmel, 46, told his audience. “Because we lost a comedy legend today. The great, great Joan Rivers passed away today. She was 81 years old. Besides being a pioneer for women in comedy, for everyone in comedy, Joan was a very lucky person because she loved her job so much. She never wanted to stop and she didn’t have to stop, because she was still great at it.”
Kimmel then showed a clip from Rivers’ last appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “I had the good fortune of having Joan on the show I think like six times,” he recalled. “She was so funny… keep in mind, in this clip, this woman is 80 years old.”
The clip showed Kimmel asking the Fashion Police host about her grandson Cooper, daughter Melissa‘s only child. “Right now, he wants to be a football player. He’s 10. Stupid!” Rivers said.
Asked what she wanted him to be, the Fashion Police host replied, “Gay. I want him to be gay! Who else is gonna give a damn that I knew Judy Garland? Grandma, tell me all about Judy Garland!”
Kimmel also discussed the late comedic legend with his ex Silverman.
“I am broken inside,” the 43-year-old actress told Kimmel. “She was a hero to me and I loved her very much… I think a lot of people, when they die at 81, you go, ‘Well, she was 81, she had an amazing life.’ But she wasn’t done. Right now, [she] was at her most vital.”
Silverman and Kimmel then insulted each other in memory of the late comic.
Watch what else Silverman had to say below and see Joan Rivers’ final appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! above.
