Rob Ford appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Rob Ford’s appearance Monday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live was the culmination of months of wooing by the talk show host to get the Toronto mayor to appear as a guest.

Rob Ford laughed off Jimmy Kimmel’s suggestion that he get help for his drinking problem and was reported to be upset about his appearance on the talk show.

The mayor tossed T-shirts to the audience to loud applause as he came on stage after Jimmy Kimmel introduced him by saying “our first guest tonight has tripped, bumped, danced, argued and smoked his way into our national consciousness”.

Jimmy Kimmel told Rob Ford that if he’s an alcoholic, and drinking enough that he would try crack cocaine in his 40s, “and you don’t remember it, maybe that’s something that you might want to think about, like talking to somebody”.

Rob Ford shot back his head and laughed before saying he “wasn’t elected to be perfect”.

The Toronto mayor made international headlines last year when he acknowledged having smoked crack cocaine while in a drunken stupor. He continues to draw attention for his erratic behavior, but has resisted pressure to step down and is seeking re-election in October.

Earlier during the segment, Rob Ford and Jimmy Kimmel left their seats during the segment to watch a series of videos depicting the mayor of Canada’s largest city in a variety of embarrassing scenes, including a cell phone video of Ford ranting about wanting to kill someone. Rob Ford said he didn’t know who he was talking about in the video.

Jimmy Kimmel also played several other videos, including one from a city council meeting in which he mimes a drunk driver and another that shows him dumping and throwing – not handing – candy canes to children during a Santa Claus parade. The red-faced mayor stood next to a video screen and was asked to comment about each of them.

Before the show, Rob Ford had said that his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show was intended to promote Toronto’s film industry, describing his city as Hollywood North.

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