“This is unusual and upsetting,” Conan O’Brien said to his audience on Monday night. “But we got some news during the show.”
That news, of course, was about the death of beloved comedian and actor Robin Williams. During the taping of Monday’s show, O’Brien broke the tragic news to his audience.
“Robin Williams has passed away,” he said, as the audience reacted in shock. “I’m sorry to anyone in our studio audience that I’m breaking this news. This is absolutely shocking and horrifying and so upsetting on every level.”
Andy Richter and Will Arnett, looking visibly upset, were on the panel at the time O’Brien made the announcement as well.
“He was an amazingly kind and generous person,” said Richter.
“As funny as he was…he was even better as a person,” said Arnett.
“We’re just processing this right literally at this moment,” said O’Brien. “We’re thinking of Robin’s family. We’re thinking about everybody who he touched, around the world, throughout his life. And we’re thinking about Robin.”
These are colleagues and friends of Williams, who are facing the shock and grief of this news in a public forum.
I am crying so many tears right now.
(ETA: Apologies; the video embed does not appear to working; you can watch it here via Team CoCo. I have replaced the original with a YouTube version that will hopefully work from now on!)
Image via screengrab/Team Coco.