Regina King Beautifully Comforted Jimmy Kimmel When He Choked Up During An Interview

Regina King has returned to Hollywood two years after the death of her 26-year-old son Ian Alexander Jr. She has not done any interviews since her devastating loss, and when she sat down to chat with Jimmy Kimmel for a recent interview, it was an emotional moment. In fact, it was Kimmel himself who got choked up almost immediately after King sat down. And what did this incredible woman do? She reached over to comfort him.

King was a guest on Live! with Jimmy Kimmel last week to promote her new movie Shirley, the Netflix biopic about the first Black U.S. congresswoman Shirley Chisolm. When she sat down to talk to Kimmel, he asked her how she was doing. “Right now, I’m good,” she said, and Kimmel replied, “Good. I’m glad to hear that. I know you’ve been through a lot the last year.” The thought of what King had been through was clearly too much for Kimmel, whose voice broke as he tried not to cry.

For anyone who has ever cried out of empathy, you know how bad that can feel. Especially when the person you are feeling for is sitting with you. But King handled it with absolute love and kindness. She reached across the desk and held Kimmel’s hand. Smiled at him and said, “It’s good to see you, Jimmy” and gave him a moment to compose himself.

King’s son Ian died by suicide in January 2022. She has taken her time to process her grief as a mother privately, sharing just one note on Instagram to honor Ian’s birthday in 2023 with an image of a floating paper lantern. “We are all in different places on the planet…so is Ian,” King wrote at the time. “His spirit is the thread that connects us. Of course orange is your favorite color…Its [sic] the fire and the calm. I see you in everything I breath [sic]. My absolute favorite thing about myself is being ….Regina the mother of Ian the GodKing. Continue to shine bright, my guiding light.”

It is no wonder that Kimmel had a difficult time holding it together when he saw her after everything she had been through. Fan on social media were quick to praise King for her compassion in this situation.

“the way his voice cracked and how she grabbed his hand broke me,” one commented.

“It’s so beautiful to see people relating so authentically, and compassionately, without breaking one another’s boundaries. So much was said in that first minute - even though so few words were spoken - and that first laugh was so full of humanity. Great interview, another said.

“Regina definitely has an amazing level of strength. To have gone through what she did and comfort others is something else. I am just glad to see her back,” one more wrote.

Kimmel, to his credit, pivoted to a joke to lighten the mood. He asked her if she saw her Miss Congeniality 2 co-star William Shatner backstage, and King smiled and chuckled.