Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal fight back tears paying tribute to Robin Williams at Kennedy Center Honors

Goldberg shouted out her “Comic Relief” cohost and friend Williams while praising Crystal, an honoree at the 2023 ceremony and the third member of their trifecta.

Robin Williams died in 2014, but his memory is still making his friends and fellow comedians emotional.

At the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., Whoopi Goldberg paid tribute to the late comedian as she honored their friend and colleague Billy Crystal, causing both of them to fight back tears.

"I want to acknowledge...the person who should also be standing here with me is our brother Robin,” Goldberg said to Crystal, who became emotional as the audience applauded for the late Oscar winner. “You are my family, you’re my big brother, and you have no idea what an honor it is to see you get your due. I love you. You’re a mensch. You're a national treasure. National treasure. Billy, congratulations."

The ceremony — which also honored Queen Latifah, Dionne Warwick, Barry Gibb, and Renée Fleming— took place Dec. 3 and was televised Wednesday.

Crystal, Goldberg, and Williams formed a comedic trio to annually cohost the Comic Relief charity specials in the 1980s and ‘90s, as well as a one-off in 2006 benefitting the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Crystal and Williams honored Goldberg when she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2001, and Williams and Goldberg were both present to celebrate when Crystal won the same award in 2007.

The When Harry Met Sally… star reflected on Williams’ absence ahead of this year’s ceremony. "I’m missing my friend Robin tonight, very much so, because of all of what we did together," Crystal said. "I know that he would be here, and he is. So it’s special, and a lot of feelings for me tonight.”

In addition to Comic Relief, Crystal and Williams also costarred in Fathers' Day, Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet, Woody Allen’s Deconstructing Harry, and an episode of Friends.

Crystal paid tribute to Williams at the Emmy Awards soon after his Aug. 2014 death. “He made us laugh hard. Every time you saw him — on television, movies, nightclubs, arenas, hospitals, homeless shelters,” Crystal said. “As genius as he was on stage, he was the greatest friend you could ever imagine. Supportive, protective, loving. It’s very hard to talk about him in the past because he was so present in all of our lives. For almost 40 years, he was the brightest star in the comedy galaxy.”

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