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Jimmy Kimmel has been working on Hollywood Blvd for over 20 years and he returned today to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped amid the devastating wildfires in LA.
The comedian opened his show, fighting back tears, by calling it a “very scary, very stressful, very strange week here in LA” but quickly pivoted to thank emergency workers, as well as everyone in LA who has been helping, including Steve Guttenberg.
He did, however, have a few choice words for looters, parking attendants and Donald Trump.
Kimmel showed footage of how close the fires were to the Jimmy Kimmel Live! studio and revealed that some of his co-workers lost their homes.
“It’s been a terrible. Everyone who lives in the city knows someone, most of us, multiple people, families, friends, colleagues, neighbors, whose house is burned down, and the truth is we don’t even know if it’s over,” he said. “I think I speak for all of us when I say it has been sickening, shocking, awful experience but has also been in a lot of ways, a beautiful experience.”
“Because once again, we see our fellow men and women coming together to support each other. People who lost their own homes were out volunteering in parking lots, helping others who lost theirs,” he added.
He slammed Trump, who has already managed to politicize the tragedy. “I don’t want to get into all the vile and irresponsible and stupid things – our alleged future President – and his gaggle of scumbags – chose to say – during our darkest and most terrifying hour. The fact that they chose to attack our firefighters – who apparently aren’t white enough – to be out there, risking their lives on our behalf is… it’s disgusting. But it’s not surprising.”
Instead, he thanked the LA firefighters as well as firefighters from Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Washington, Northern California, New Mexico, Idaho, Maine as well as Mexico and Canada and the police, National Guard, rescue workers, doctors, the nurses, EMTs and pilots working 12-hour shifts. “thank God for all of you,” he said.
He also gave a shout out to local LA news reporters.
He joked about downloading the Watch Duty app, which has become an essential tool for everyone living in the city. “You know when you google watch duty. You really have to be careful. You do not know what might come up,” he joked.
On Thursday night, he said that he and his family had 19 people living with them and four dogs. “It was unlike anything I have ever experienced.”
He told the story of one of the show’s producers – Hera – whose family had to evacuate. She asked her eight year old to pack his most important stuff and in that bag, she discovered eight pairs of boxer shorts and a container filled with his baby teeth. “He’s apparently saving them up for the tooth fairy,” he said.
He also paid tribute to chefs Susan Fenifer and Mary Sue Milliken for feeding people, as well as actor Steve Guttenberg, who has been helping put out fires and clearing cars so emergency vehicles can reach the affected areas in the Palisades.
“It’s a really, really tough time right now. But you know, I appreciate, everybody, the LA Fire and all the companies that are helping. It’s a tough time,” he said, adding that he needs clean underwear, before Kimmel reminded him that the last time he was on the show was after his exit from Dancing with the Stars.
But he also slammed looters and parking attendants giving out fines.
“There should be a law that says if you get caught burglarizing z home during a fire, you automatically have to trade places in prison with one of the inmates that is out there working to save the people from the fire,” he said. “The other thing we could do without, and this a little thing, but the city is still getting out parking tickets. Unless your car is blocking a hydrant or the rescue effort, they shouldn’t be giving out parking tickets right now. The whole city is a red zone right now.”
He closed by saying a few things that Angelinos had learned over the last week including the names of every local news reporter, that there’s such a thing as a “boiling water advisory”, that Steve Guttenberg’s a goddamn national treasure, that most of us are useless in an emergency situation, new words such as “Slopover” and “Phos-chek”, that there is a socially acceptable use for the word “retardant”, that there was a Bunny Museum in Altadena, that none of our out-of-state family members – know the difference between Santa Monica and Santa Clarita and that whoever was sending out those emergency notifications to evacuate – should not be doing that job.
Joining Kimmel on the show tonight is LA icon Snoop Dogg and comedian Roy Wood Jr. as well as the band Dawes, who have been hit hard by the fires, coming from Altadena.
“You know, over most of the last week, we’ve seen some very upsetting images, but we’ve also seen countless examples of courage and compassion from our neighbors under literal fire,” Kimmel concluded before showing footage of such uplifting stories.
