Jimmy Kimmel‘s 7-month-old-son, Billy, had a second heart surgery on Monday, December 4.
ABC announced the baby’s procedure in a statement, saying, “Jimmy’s son Billy had a scheduled and successful heart surgery this morning.” The network added that while Kimmel is with his family, his late-night talk show will be helmed this week by celebrity guest hosts Chris Pratt, Tracee Ellis Ross, Neil Patrick Harris and Melissa McCarthy.
As previously reported, Billy underwent open-heart surgery shortly after Kimmel’s wife, writer Molly McNeary, gave birth to their second child in April. The host opened up about his son’s life-saving procedure in an emotional opening monologue on his show.
Explaining that a doctor had opened the tiny baby’s chest to fix two defects in his heart, Kimmel, 50, said, “It was the longest three hours of my life.”
He later faced backlash after pleading during his monologue for all children to have health care, right as the Republican party was preparing to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Kimmel spoke out about the criticism on his show, doubling down on his previous comments and explaining that while hospitals will perform an operation if you have an emergency with your child, not all health problems are solved in one visit.
“We’ve had a dozen doctor’s appointments since our son had surgery,” he told the audience in May. “You have a cardiologist, a pediatrician, the surgeons, some kids need an ambulance to transport them — and that doesn’t even count parents who have to miss work for all this stuff.”
After Billy’s second scheduled heart surgery was postponed in November as the family all had colds, Kimmel offered an update on his son, who had just turned six months old.
“He is healthy and happy,” Kimmel captioned a smiling pic of his baby boy, “and we are all very grateful for your prayers, good wishes, thoughts and support of @ChildrensLA and children’s hospitals in your area.”
