Jimmy Kimmel in 'dark place' over longtime friend loss

Cleto Escobedo, a long-time friend of Jimmy Kimmel, has recently passed. His sudden death reportedly had a significant toll on the late-night host emotionally.

“Jimmy is spiralling,” a source tells the Globe magazine. “He’s known Cleto since he was just a kid, and he never expected him to be gone this soon.”

“It’s got Jimmy facing his own mortality and questioning everything. He’s in a very dark place," the insider adds.

The report comes after backlash Jimmy faced over his comments about the killing of commentator Charlie Kirk.

“Jimmy got back on the air, so a lot of people assume that he’s moved past this and is feeling like a champ, but that’s not the case. He feels very beaten down,” the tipster tattled.

But the flood of hate he received, the insider points, is even too much for him to handle, despite having experience facing criticism.

“He’s used to people not liking him, but the level of hate was more than he ever anticipated. He was getting death threats. No one should have to endure that.”

Now with the death of Clebo, “Jimmy is tired, and he’s grieving, and he’s completely burned out. You can see just by looking at him that he’s barely holding it together,” the source raises alarm.

The insider warning continues, “People in his life are begging him to step back from the show before the job eats him alive. They’re terrified that if he doesn’t make a change soon, the stress will destroy him. He’s never been this down.”

Cleto died on Nov 11. He was 59.