The loss comes less than a year after the bandleader and longtime childhood friend of Kimmel passed away.
Late night host and Donald Trump nemesis Jimmy Kimmel has paid a loving tribute to a “caring friend” who worked with him for nearly 30 years.
“No man has seen me in boxer shorts anymore,” Kimmel joked about Rodney Muñoz, the Emmy-winning costume designer for Jimmy Kimmel Live!died last week at age 60.
“He was a devoted son, brother and uncle; a great baker and caring friend,” Kimmel wrote in an emotional Instagram post Friday.
Kimmel described Muñoz as “one of the most talented people I had the pleasure of knowing. He was a funny, gruff, hard-working man whose tough exterior hid a huge, generous heart.”
Kimmel did not reveal the cause of death.
Jimmy Kimmel poses as Mr. Potato Head with the help of costume designer Rodney Munoz.
Muñoz’s friend Joe Dietl announced in a Facebook post that the costume designer died on October 2. Dietl, who also did not reveal the cause of death, said Muñoz contracted an extremely severe case of COVID-19 during the pandemic. He was placed in a coma and put on a ventilator to save his life and has suffered health problems ever since, according to Dietl.
Rodney Muñoz celebrates after winning a Creative Arts Emmy for his work on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
“Rodney has helped many of us through tough times,” Kimmel noted in his message. “Rodney will be missed as he joins his beloved parents in the future.”
Rodney Muñoz dresses Jimmy Kimmel for an episode.
In addition to creating an array of often outrageous costumes for Kimmel’s skits, Muñoz also styled Kimmel for her appearance at the Oscars in 2018.
He won a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety/Music Program in 2010 for his work on Kimmel’s show. Before joining Kimmel, Muñoz worked as a costume designer for Late Show with David Letterman.
It was the second death in Kimmel’s entourage in less than a year. Cleto Escobedo III, bandleader of the show’s house band Cleto and the Cletones and a close friend of Kimmel’s since childhood, died on November 11, 2025 at age 59.
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“Early this morning we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,” Kimmel wrote on his social media at the time. “To say we are heartbroken is an understatement. Cleto and I have been inseparable since we were nine years old.”
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