Call Me Kat breaks fourth wall to pay emotional tribute to Leslie Jordan and fans are in tears
The stars of Call Me Kat, and Dolly Parton, bid an emotional farewell to Leslie Jordan on the set of the Fox sitcom. (Fox via Getty)
Dolly Parton joined the cast of Call Me Kat in paying emotional tribute to Leslie Jordan, and it left fans in tears.
Jordan, who died in a car crash in late October, was one of the main stars of the Fox sitcom. The episode on Thursday (5 January) honoured the late actor and his character, Phil, who was a beloved part of Call Me Kat.
The winter premiere concluded Phil’s storyline, and the cast looked at a slideshow of the baker’s off-screen wedding abroad. They added Phil and his now-husband Jalen (John Griffin) opened a bakery in Tahiti, and the couple planned to remained in the country permanently.
The emotional cast then broke the fourth wall with Griffin bringing out Jordan’s chair, and star Kyla Pratt wrapping his bedazzled blazer around it. Mayim Bialik, who plays the titular chracter, then shared how they gave Phil a “happy ending” but that the cast was deeply mourning Jordan.
“We will miss him very much,” she said.
Parton, a friend of Jordan, then briefly appeared in a pre-filmed segment as part of the tribute. The country icon sang a verse from their song “Where the Soul Never Dies” – which was on Leslie Jordan’s 2021 album Company’s Comin’ – before addressing Jordan directly.
“I know usually at a memorial, people talk about somebody. Well, I’m going to talk to you,” the singer said. “Because there is that place on the other side, and I’m certainly going to see you there, little brother.”
She continued: “You left a lot of people here with a lot of precious, precious memories. Everybody loved you, but I doubt many of them loved you more than I did.”
Parton shared how Jordan wouldn’t have wanted his loved ones or fans to be sad after his death.
“I just want you to know that we all love you, we all miss you, and I bet you’re having a big laugh over all of us being sad and sorrowful,” Parton said. “And I know that would be the last thing you would want us to be.”
She added: “You made us happy while you were here, and we’re happy that you’re at peace. I just want you to know that I will always love you. Goodbye, my sweet Leslie.”
Parton then sang the line “I will always love you” from her iconic song of the same name.
Fans on Twitter were left an emotional wreck after the touching tributes to Leslie Jordan.
Bialik told Entertainment Weekly that Jordan’s death was “obviously a tragic and devastating personal loss” for the cast. She added the stars wanted a send-off for Leslie Jordan “that would both celebrate him and honour him in a way that [they] hope is respectful”.
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