This weekend at
the Sundance Film Festival, comedian Lil Rel took a break from discussing his new movie,
Brittany Runs A Marathon, to remember friend and
Rel co-creator, Kevin Barnett.
Barnett
passed away earlier this month at the age of 32 after suffering a fatal hemorrhage due to pancreatitis.
Rel told ESSENCE, “It’s tough still going back to work…it’s just weird.”
“It’s still weird saying ‘was,'” Rel admitted while speaking on Barnett’s impact on comedy and work on
Rel. “It’s a group of us and we’re all hurting. We’re all a real tight-knit group.”
The comedian and actor added that one of the things he loved most about Barnett was that he always rooted for the underdog.
“You’d see Kevin at the Fox studios at night and then go to the most hole-in-the-wall comedy spot to support young comics. Let’s praise some of these young people. That’s what we’re all trying to do but, he did.”
