Jimmy Kimmel's Baby Boy Visits Dad at Work 3 Months After Heart Surgery

Jimmy Kimmel Live! host's son Billy was born with a congenital heart defect

By Corinne Heller Aug 10, 2017 2:33 PMTags

Jimmy Kimmel's baby boy is all smiles and already visiting his dad at work after undergoing a major health scare as a newborn.

In May, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host said in an emotional announcement on his show that he and wife Molly McNearney recently welcomed their second child together, William John Kimmel, and that the baby had undergone heart surgery to treat a congenital defect. Kimmel later said the boy, nicknamed Billy, was "doing very well." In late July, Kimmel said he was three months old and "doing great."

"He's doing great," Kimmel reiterated to The Hollywood Reporter in comments posted Thursday. "Young Billy made his first visit to our office today."

The outlet posted a photo of a Billy smiling while being held on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Aug. 1.

photos
Cutest Celeb Kids on Instagram

"He's juggling," Kimmel joked. "He's translating [French novelist Gustave] Flaubert from French into English. He's really an amazing kid. No — he smiles. That's pretty much it."

"He is very interested in ceiling fans," Kimmel continued. "He likes those a lot. I could get him to pay the same amount for Netflix just to watch ceiling fans. And his health? He has to have two more open heart surgeries. We would like to get them over with and not have to think about it all the time, but it could definitely be worse."

Kimmel had said during his initial announcement about Billy that the boy will have to undergo another open heart procedure in three to six months and will need a "third and hopefully non-invasive procedure" to replace a valve when he is in his early teens.

ABC

Billy's first surgery was performed at Children's Hospital Los Angeles hours after he was born. His mother was still in the recovery room.

"I thought I was accompanying my son to a routine check-up [but it] became a very serious situation very quickly," Kimmel said. "I didn't have my cellphone to tell my wife what was going on. She started to worry about an hour after I left and the doctor had to go in and tell her what was going on."

"I felt like I was in an episode of a television show where something terrible was happening," he said. "There were a lot of people scrambling around. At that point, I knew there was nothing I could do. They were all very good about keeping me abreast of what was happening, but I wanted them to just focus on him and not worry about me. The surgery itself took less time than we were told it would—about two hours. We were surprised when the doctor walked in and told us it went well."

 

Kimmel had angered many conservatives by getting political in his initial announcement about his newborn son and his ailment. He spoke out against President Donald Trump's past proposal to cut almost $6 billion from the budget of the National Institutes of Health and his plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

He also drew the attention of past presidents. Kimmel told The Hollywood Reporter that former President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and former President George W. Bush sent his family letters.

"My goal always is to not make this a red or blue issue, because I don't think it is," he said.