There’s more to Jimmy Kimmel than interviews with Stormy Daniels or with The Bachelor favorite Bekah Martinez. He’s a husband and a father.
He’s opened up on his show about his son Billy’s serious congenital heart problems that require multiple surgeries.
As you’ll see in the sweet video below, Ellen DeGeneres has found a beautiful and meaningful way to honor his son’s health battle.
Jimmy Kimmel and Ellen DeGeneres affirm their friendship.
The two then discuss Jimmy Kimmel’s young son’s ongoing health battle. He was born with genetic heart disease.
Congenital heart problems can often be serious or even fatal, but Billy has undergone surgeries in an attempt to save his lie.
It’s hard on Jimmy Kimmel and his wife. It’s harder still on Billy.
When Ellen shares that she’s about to spring one of her famous surprises on Jimmy Kimmel, he looks genuinely surprised.
(Here, we see Jimmy Kimmel pinching his hand in an attempt to use acupressure to prevent himself for crying. Ellen tells him that the pressure point is for headaches. He’s so goofy)
As it turns out, the wonderful surprise that Ellen has for Jimmy and his family is that she’s had a hospital room named after Billy.
It is named in honor of him, not in memory — Billy is alive, folks.
It’s a sweet move. Cynical critics might describe it as an "empty gesture," but it’s not like Ellen can just magically heal Jimmy’s son. This is a sweet thing to do.
And Ellen had another surprise for Jimmy Kimmel — she had some of his son’s nurses from the hospital in the audience.
Jimmy Kimmel has brought his son onto the stage with him as he continues to share Billy’s health battle with audiences.
His candid sharing of that part of his life has made him one of the most vocal supporters of health care reform.
Many point to his moving, tearful monologues when they talk about the need for universal health care — that no one and especially no child should be condemned to die because they aren’t rich.
Jimmy Kimmel of course, is rich enough to afford his son’s treatments.
Any other family would have to try crowdsourcing or bankruptcy in an effort to save their baby’s life.
During his interview with Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel opens up about how emotional he gets.
As we mention, he shares that he sometimes pinches an acupressure point on his hand as an effort to hold back tears.
Ellen corrects him — acupressure points can sometimes have multiple purposes, but the point that he pinches to no avail is supposed to help with headache relief.
So, you know, no wonder that doesn’t work for him.
Also, his teary eyes are a refreshing dose of emotional honesty in a society that tries to tell men that they’re not supposed to cry.
As you can see in the video below, both Jimmy and Ellen are delights.
But you probably already knew that.
(Of course, people who think that Ellen DeGeneres is part of the "deep state" that the US doesn’t have in the first place probably think that Jimmy’s part of the same nonexistent organization)
Watch this sweet video — and hear Jimmy Kimmel’s anecdote of crying at someone else’s wedding when he worked as a DJ.