Jimmy Kimmel gets choked up with Regina King in first interview together since her son's death

"I know you've been through a lot the last year," the visibly emotional host said.

Jimmy Kimmel and Regina King shared a tender moment during Thursday's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

King appeared on the talk show to promote her new Netflix biographical film Shirley, about the first Black congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, and was greeted by a briefly overcome 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 last week, 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, on Netflix now, 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 tells Entertainment Weekly. The King sisters also co-produced the new film.

Watch King's interview with Kimmel above.

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Related content:

• Regina King opens up about son's death for first time: 'The sadness will never go away'

• See Regina King become the first Black congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in Shirley first look

• Jimmy Kimmel reacts to Donald Trump calling him a 'lousy host' after Oscars joke: 'I love that this bothered him so much'

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.