Get your tissues ready.
Ellen DeGeneres honored her friend Jimmy Kimmeland his son in the best possible way.
“We are friends, and I write to you a lot saying, ‘Once again, brilliant monologue,’ ” DeGeneres, 60, told Kimmel on Tuesday’s episode. “Everything you’re doing on the show — you’re using your voice for good, and you’re saying a lot of important things.”
Kimmel, 50, replied, “I do want to say thank you to you because you were very kind when my son went through a couple of heart surgeries to raise a huge amount of money, you and your viewers raised a million dollars! It meant a lot to us.”
Kimmel has been a vocal champion of children’s healthcare since his son, Billy, was born with a heart defect in April 2017 and has urged Congress to restore the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
“You’re such a great guy, and that was so emotional, to see you go through that. But when anything, the latest — the school shooting — you get very emotional, and I love that about you,” DeGeneres quipped, prompting Kimmel to chuckle.
“I’m tearing up right now,” he admitted. “It’s embarrassing to me! I pinch my hand … it doesn’t work.”
He had to discreetly wipe his eye when DeGeneres finally bestowed him with his “good surprise.”
“We called our friends at Children’s Hospital LA,” DeGeneres said. “We have named one of the rooms of the Heart Institute floor in honor of Billy … That will forever be the Billy Kimmel room. And thanks to everyone at the Children’s Hospital of L.A., including several of Billy’s nurses, who are here in the audience today.”
Visibly moved but still quick on his feet, Kimmel joked to the crowd, “You should be at work!”