The disgraced Toronto mayor gets grilled during an interview with Kimmel, but says the comedian 'was just doing his job.'
- Mar 4, 2014
AceShowbiz - Jimmy Kimmel held nothing back during an interview with Toronto mayor Rob Ford. As expected, the disgraced politician was grilled about his drug and alcohol issue during his appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Monday, March 3.
Kimmel read mean comments on Ford following announcement that he would appear on the show. Some Toronto residents called him "disgusting," "embarrassment," "sick", "abusive exploiter," and some others accused him of being racism and homophobia. "Are you homophobic?" Kimmel asked, to which Ford replied with a laugh, "No. Are you?"
Ford said he wouldn't apologize anymore following his infamous crack-smoking apology in late 2013. "The apologies are over. I'm moving on," he said. "People are going to judge me on a proven track record and that's why I'm down here."
At one point, Kimmel dabbed sweat from the politician's head with a tissue. "Do you mind if I dab you, Mr. Mayor? I'll auction this off on eBay. Actually, I'm going to take this DNA and I'm going to clone you and we're going to have a whole army of you in L.A.," he quipped.
Kimmel also suggested the mayor to seek treatment for his alcohol and drug problem. "If you are an alcoholic, if you're drinking enough that you can try crack in your 40s and you don't remember it, maybe that's something you might want to think about, like talking to somebody," the comedian said.
Ford responded, "I wasn't elected to be perfect, Jimmy. I was elected to clean up the mess that I inherited, and that's exactly what I've done."
After the episode was taped, Ford's brother Doug said the Toronto mayor was "a little upset... But he's OK." Met at LAX, Ford said, "No, it was more Doug that was upset. I told him, 'what are you upset about.' No big deal. I was fine. There was some tough questions but it was fun. I had a blast."
"Jimmy's a comedian and he was just doing his job," he added. "The whole experience was phenomenal and it didn't cost the taxpayers a dime. And now it's time to come back to work and start fighting for the Gardiner Expressway."
Of why he agreed to do the late-night talk show despite his colleagues' fear that his TV appearance would only further ridicule the city, he explained, "I really wanted to promote Toronto on the show and I think I did that."
