Jimmy Kimmel had both positive and frightening news about his newborn son for his viewers on Monday.
“I try not to get emotional, but it was a scary story,” the tearful late-night host said in his opening monologue. “But before I go into it, I want you to know that it has a happy ending.”
Kimmel went on to say that William “Billy” Kimmel, who was born on Friday, April 21, to Kimmel and his wife Molly McNearney, had successful open heart surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and is now home with his family.
“He appeared to be a normal, healthy baby until about three hours after he was born,” Kimmel said. He added that a very attentive nurse at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills heard a murmur in his heart and saw he was purple.
“It’s a terrifying thing, my wife is in the recovery room and she has no idea what is going on, and I am standing in the middle of a lot of worried-looking people,” he continued.
Specialists quickly diagnosed that Billy was born with a heart disease that blocked his pulmonary valve. Kimmel’s and Molly’s second child together then underwent emergency surgery, and “they did some magic that I couldn’t even begin to explain,” the host said. “It was a success, and it was the longest three hours of my life.”
Billy will have to have another surgery in around six months, and then a third in his teens, Kimmel said, as he shared a photo of his son. “Poor kid, not only did he get a bad heart, he got my face.”
The newborn is now home with his family, the proud father shared: “He’s eating, sleeping and he peed on his mother.”
Kimmel went on to read out a long list of thanks to everyone who helped at both hospitals, while trying — and failing — to hold back his tears.
“I’ve been supporting Children’s Hospital for years, I had no idea we’d ever wind up there,” he said.
As for the outpouring of support from family and friends, “Even that b—- Matt Damon sent flowers.”
Kimmel closed out with a message about Donald Trump, saying: “President Trump last month proposed a $6 billion cut in funding to the National Institute of Health. Thank God our congressmen made a deal last night not to go along with that, they are actually increased funding by $2 billion, and I applaud them for doing that.
“If your baby is going to die, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make,” he said, before promising he was not going to cry for the rest of the show.
Kimmel is now on paternity leave for the week while his friends guest-host “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” He also asked that donations be made to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
The upcoming “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” lineup is below (with additional guests to be announced throughout the week):
Tuesday:
– Host Will Arnett
– Guests Maya Rudolph, Ben McKenzie
– Musical guest Incubus
Wednesday:
– Host Anthony Anderson
– Guest George Lopez
– Musical guest Future
Thursday:
– Host Kristen Bell
– Guests Charlie Hunnam, Adam Scott
– Musical guest Alison Krauss
Friday:
– Host David Spade
– Guest Guy Ritchie
– Musical guest alt-J