Jimmy Kimmel fights back tears in emotional interview with Regina King: "I know you've been through..."
Jimmy Kimmel and Regina King shared a tender moment during a March 2024 episode of 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Regina King appeared on the talk show to promote her Netflix biographical film 'Shirley', about the first Black congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. She was greeted by an emotional Kimmel, who asked how she was doing in the wake of her son Ian Alexander Jr.'s death. "It's very good to see you," Kimmel said, "How are you doing right now?" "Right now, I'm good," King responded with a smile. "Good, I'm glad to hear that," Kimmel said, getting visibly choked up. "I know you've been through a lot the last year."
King leaned over to Kimmel to grab his hand and said, "It's good to see you, Jimmy." An emotional pause from the host was followed by the lighthearted, "Did you see William Shatner backstage? It just occurred to us that there's a Miss Congeniality 2 reunion show tonight." (Unfortunately, the two did not cross paths.) King's son and only child Ian died by suicide in 2022 at the age of 26. The Oscar winner publicly opened up about the grief for the first time during an appearance on 'Good Morning America', telling host Robin Roberts that she has become a "different person" since the loss.
"Grief is a journey, you know? I understand that grief is love that has no place to go," King said, noting that she continues to honor his legacy by speaking “about him in the present, because he’s always with me” and remembering “the joy and happiness that he gave all of us.” "I know that I share this grief with everyone," she later added. "But no one else is Ian's mom, you know? Only me. And so it's mine. And the sadness will never go away. It'll always be with me. And I think I saw somewhere, the sadness is a reminder of how much he means to me, you know?"
'Shirley', now streaming on Netflix, marks the first time King is sharing the screen with her sister, 'What's Happening Now!' actress Reina King, who stars as Chisholm's sister, Muriel St Hill. “We did our share of acting as little girls, but this is the first time on screen, big or small, together, so it was a long time coming,” Regina told Entertainment Weekly. The King sisters also co-produced the new film.
In December 2024, King paid tribute to Ian by sharing her seven favorite albums of the year on Instagram. She explained that she chose seven albums because it was Ian's favorite number and symbolizes completion. However, in an interview according to PEOPLE, King revealed she knew Ian "was struggling so much. We knew. We knew what we were going through, but he never presented that way." King who is still processing her son's death concluded by saying that, "That’s why I know that a smile doesn’t always mean happy. He would never not let whoever he was with feel like they were the most special person in the world. So for me, I’m like, ‘Man, he was putting a lot into things, a lot into people, a lot into this world, and yet it wasn’t translating back. '