Viva Vegas: Jimmy Kimmel Turns the Big 4-0

Las Vegas hot spot Tao kicked off its two-year anniversary celebration with a birthday party for Vegas-raised late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel. "There's no better place for a party than Vegas," his girlfriend Sarah Silverman said. "And since Jimmy's family is already here [living in Vegas], it's perfect." Kimmel himself concurs, "It [was] great to be there, great to be with friends and family."
Kimmel - whose week-long daily jaunt between NYC (where in the morning he did Live with Kelly Ripa) and his own Los Angeles-based late-nighter was a huge success - celebrated his 40th with Silverman and 15 family members and friends, including his parents Jim and Joan. Kimmel and party dined on lobster wontons, Kobe beef, and wasabi-encrusted sirloin and drank Tao-tinis. Silverman (who nuzzled with Kimmel throughout the evening and ordered a separate vegetarian meal) surprised Kimmel with two cakes shaped to form a 4-0.
A surprise reveler showed up late - fellow late-night talker Carson Daly, who immediately sidled up to Kimmel Sr. and told him that he owes his entire career to his son. (Jimmy hired the then 16-year old Daly as an intern at Los Angeles' KROQ radio, where mentor Kimmel covered sports.) Kimmel was even set to be Daly's best man in his planned wedding to Tara Reid. (The couple broke up shortly after "postponing" their wedding.) - Reporting by N.F. Mendoza