Adam Carolla credits Jimmy Kimmel for comedy career, warns society collapses when comics stop telling truth

Comedian Adam Carolla said Jimmy Kimmel was the first person in his life to tell him he was funny and should pursue a career in entertainment, recalling on Tuesday's episode of "Hang Out with Sean Hannity" how the encouragement grew out of an unlikely relationship that began with boxing lessons.

"He wasn't a good boxer, but he was a good comedian, and he was the first guy in my entire life to ever go, 'You are funny, man. You should be doing this,'" Carolla said.

The friendship began with Carolla finding himself locked out of KROQ radio station, where Kimmel worked at the time, at 6 a.m. Eventually, Carolla spotted someone using their key card to enter the building, and he asked the man to relay the message that there was a boxing trainer waiting outside.

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Twenty minutes later, Kimmel — who at that time was known as Jimmy the Sports Guy for the radio segment he hosted — let him into the building to begin their training.

"I ended up talking to him more about comedy than I did about boxing," said Carolla.

Carolla also touched on the importance of comedians speaking truth to power during the podcast, warning that society is in trouble when comics stop being able to joke honestly.

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"I think comedians need to sort of be truth tellers," he said, adding that during the coronavirus pandemic, "they got to the comedians."

During the pandemic, the comedian commented on facing calls to be canceled over jokes, criticism, and creative content. He has referred to those privy to cancel culture in both Hollywood and government alike as "cowards."

"Once they get to the comedians, we're in trouble," he warned Hannity on Tuesday. 

"Because you can get to the union guys because they're worried about their job, and you can get to the school teachers, and you can get to the politicians. You can get to about everybody because their job is to not get fired. But when you get to the comedians, that's a bad sign for society. And I was saddened to see that they had gotten to some of the comedians."