LAS VEGAS — The hosts of the 46th annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon said Sunday that Jerry Lewis retired from the organization and its yearly fundraiser — the charity’s first comments about the beloved icon’s departure since an announcement last month.
Co-host Nigel Lythgoe said during his opening comments on the telethon that he didn’t realize Lewis, 85, was thinking about retirement during the show last year, when the comedian offered Lythgoe his seat as Lewis took a break and Lythgoe was coming on the air.
“And Jerry, and I know you’re watching, when you gave me that chair, I know it’s possible to sit on it, but it isn’t possible, Jerry, to replace you, sir,” he said.
MDA spokesman Jim Brown declined to comment. Lewis publicist Candi Cazau also declined to comment.
Lewis had been chairman of the MDA since the early 1950s, before the famed telethon began. The MDA is asking millions of Americans during the six-hour broadcast for at least $1 more than the $58.9 million it raised last year.
