Steve Hofstetter Says He Was 'SO Lucky' To Have Worked With Gilbert Gottfried

On Tuesday, April 12, comedian Gilbert Gottfried passed away.

His family posted a statement to his Instagram account, which read, “We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Gilbert Gottfried after a long illness. In addition to being the most iconic voice in comedy, Gilbert was a wonderful husband, brother, friend, and father to his two young children. Although today is a sad day for all of us, please keep laughing as loud as possible in Gilbert’s honor. Love, the Gottfried family.”

The "Aladdin" voice actor leaves behind his wife, Dara Kravitz, a daughter named Lily, and a son named Max.

Many famous friends took to social media in order to pay tribute to the late comedian and voice actor, including comedian Steve Hofstetter, who paid tribute to Gottfried with a lengthy tribute.

Comedian Steve Hofstetter began his tribute, writing, "When comedians turned to Zoom, I had the privilege of helping Gilbert Gottfried & his wife Dara set up his lights and green screen - to perform a new version of an art he'd mastered before I was even born."

He called Gottfried, "A kind man. An excellent comic. A memory I treasure. He will be missed."

He then explained what it was like working with Gilbert Gottfried in a lengthy Twitter thread.

"There were SO many comics who thumbed their noses [at] digital shows during the pandemic. Many of whom were 20, 30, even 40 years younger than Gilbert Gottfried. But to him, a joke was a joke and an audience was an audience," he began.

"We spent an afternoon getting him up to speed on the tech - and once we did, he headlined a stand-up show. Then he produced an ad-lib showcase. Then he did a podcast with Weird Al," he continued. "It was incredible to see how quickly he went from setting up a green screen to completely embracing the medium. Because a joke is a joke, and an audience is an audience."

"I count myself as SO lucky to have gotten to work with Gilbert. My heart goes out to his lovely wife Dara and the rest of his family. If I am feeling this, I can't even imagine what they're feeling," he added. "What I do know is that Gilbert Gottfried left behind an incredible body of work and he will continue to make people laugh for generations. Even after his death, his jokes will live on. As will his audience."

Many of his fans thanked Steve for his touching tribute.

One user wrote, “I was really sad to hear about this today, but it has been kind of cool seeing so many people like yourself step up and cast such a positive light on his passing. I was always entertained by his style and humor, he was a great performer.”

“One of the things I liked about him was his use of dirty jokes,” another added. “I don't know if his regular act was like that, or if he just did it for special occasions. I know comedy had to evolve, but I appreciated his use and delivery of them.”

Many more comedians and famous friends are paying tribute to the late Gilbert Gottfried and reflecting on some of the best moments of his career.