In the days following Bob Saget’s death at 65, a slew of famous names have paid tribute and share stories about the late actor. Of course, his Full House and Fuller House family had a lot to say about the actor, but a lot of surprising names made the list too. This week, longtime pal John Stamos got more candid about his relationship with Saget and how it morphed and changed over the course of a lifetime, but he also shared more details about Saget’s funeral. Chief among these was a story about Dave Chappelle.
While we knew Dave Chappelle and Bob Saget were friends, the actor even spoke out about one regret he’d had after his comedian pal texted. He was busy and thought he’d have time to do it later. According to John Stamos, Chappelle was close enough to Saget that he spoke out at the actor’s funeral, but Stamos said he never really understood the impact Saget had on the comedy community until he had a conversation with Chappelle after the funeral.
In a loving editorial piece over at the New York Times, John Stamos recalled the conversation he had with Chappelle about Bob Saget’s impact on him as a “young comic” in the industry. He told the following story:
At his memorial, people started in with the jokes, and it was needed. Dave Chappelle did [two long sets]. I said, ‘You’re the GOAT. You’re the greatest of all time.’ And the respect that he gave Bob the last five, 10 years of his life, I said, ‘That was so important to Bob, and I really appreciate it.’ He goes, ‘Are you kidding me? When I was a young comic, I looked up to him and he took me under his wing. He helped me.’ Which I didn’t know.
John Stamos went on to recall that Mr. Saget was “bombastic” when it came to love and friendship. This is likely why co-stars from How I Met Your Mother to the America’s Funniest Home Videos hosts all had different stories to tell. (Even HIMYF's first episode paid tribute.) But Stamos recalled how this happened personally in his friendship with Bob, noting,
But then my dad dies, and this guy steps up like nobody in my life because everybody else was busted up. My sisters, my mom. But Bob wasn’t, and he just stepped in and took care of me, even to the point of ‘Can I host your dad’s funeral?’ Two hours of dirty jokes that I think my dad would’ve liked. But he gave people what they needed at that moment. Everybody needed a laugh, and he did it. I think that one really cemented our friendship.
Stamos’ dad dying was a point he’d brought up when he actually gave a eulogy at Saget’s funeral. At the time he’d also spoken out about his emotional state, saying he was having trouble “letting go” but realizing he didn’t “have to.” In this more recently penned piece, it seems like he is still holding on to all the wonderful things his TV co-star brought into his life.
Yet, Stamos is still having to forge forward without his pal. That’s tough for anyone to face, but it sounds particularly tough for those who knew the larger-than-life comedian who had an outsized impact on those around him. The good news is he’ll live on in memory and storytelling, and from the sounds of things, both of those threads run very deep.
