Jimmy Kimmel was visibly emotional in his monologue Monday as he reacted to the devastating wildfires throughout Los Angeles county.
“It’s been a very scary, very stressful, very strange week here in L.A.,“ said Kimmel, tearing up. ”Where we work, where we live, where our kids go to school.”
He showed a clip of the fires near the El Capitan Theatre, where Jimmy Kimmel Live! is filmed.
“That is how close this fire was to our theater here. Many of us had to leave our homes in a hurry. Some of our co-workers lost their homes.”
“That’s Hollywood,” Kimmel said, his voice breaking. “It’s been terrible. It’s been terrible.”
“Tonight, 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,” Kimmel said, referring to Donald Trump and many GOP figures' attacks on California throughout the ongoing tragedy.
He continued, “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 disgusting but it’s not surprising. Instead, I want to focus on thanking those men and women.”
Kimmel thanked all the firefighters who came in from out of state to help put out the fires, as well as “our police, our National Guard, our rescue workers, the doctors, the nurses, EMTs, the pilots working 12-hour shifts. Thank God for all of you.”
The monologue was Kimmel’s first one since the show canceled its Wednesday and Thursday tapings last week due to the fires.
On the show’s YouTube page, the video of Kimmel’s monologue was accompanied by a link to the World Central Kitchen nonprofit organization. Kimmel spoke to two of their volunteers in the segment, and encouraged viewers to donate to them.
Kimmel shared his own experience with the fires over the past week, saying, “We had 19 people living with us and four dogs. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced. It’s so strange to look around your house and just have to decide what you want to take.”
Kimmel also spoke over video to Police Academy star Steve Gutenberg, who was still assisting the L.A. fire department.
Kimmel thanked Gutenberg for his efforts and jokingly asked him, “Steve, do you feel like your pretend training in Police Academy helped to prepare you for this eventuality?" Gutenberg laughed and said he didn’t think so.
Kimmel finished the monologue by showing some more clips of L.A. residents helping and praising their community throughout the past week.
Kimmel prefaced it by saying, “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 noted about Los Angeles, “It’s known as the City of Angels for a reason.”