Sarah Silverman on Don Rickles: 'To be insulted by him was the greatest honor'

Don Rickles, the giant-hearted comic who had mastered the zinger and the art of the insult, died Thursday at the age of 90. Fellow comedians and celebrities across social media are paying tribute to the influential legend, including fan and friend Sarah Silverman, who tweeted this afternoon, “#RIP @DonRickles, you will be horribly missed. But God will be so honored when you call him a Hockey Puck.” Below, Silverman, who also appeared in the HBO documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project, shares more of her thoughts on Rickles, calling him “love and kindness personified.”

“He was so beloved by everyone,” she said in a statement to EW. “To be insulted by him was the greatest honor. Having the privilege to know him a bit personally, I can tell you that he was the warmest, kindest man you could know, with an unflinching love for his family and close friends, especially his best friend and love of his life, Barbara. But you didn’t have to know him personally to know that he was love and kindness personified. If he wasn’t, none of his material would work.”