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Jimmy Kimmel and queen king They shared a touching moment together on Thursday night Jimmy Kimmel live. The Oscar-winning actress was a guest on the late-night show promoting her new film. shirley.
And while there was no direct mention of King’s late son Ian Jr., who died in January 2022 from a suspected suicide, it was clear that his loss was felt.
“It’s very good to see you. How are you?” right now?” Kimmel asked, emphatically.
“I’m fine right now,” King responded, smiling.
“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” a visibly emotional Kimmel responded, fighting back tears. “I know you’ve been through a lot in the last year.”
King noticed the host’s emotions and reached out and took Kimmel’s hand.
“It’s good to see you Jimmy,” he said.
Kimmel struggled to find the words before saying, “Umm, did you see William Shatner backstage?” which made King laugh.
The rest of the interview did not include any mention of the actress’ late son, however, she has spoken about him several times recently when he returned to the public attention.
Ian Alexander Jr. was the only child of King and her ex-husband, record producer, Ian Alexander. The exes married in 1997 and were together for a decade before divorcing. According to multiple reports, Ian Jr. he committed suicide shortly after after celebrating his 26th birthday in 2022.
Earlier this month, he spoke with robin roberts in Good morning americareflecting on what life has been like for her since the death of her 26-year-old son.
“I’m a different person now than I was on January 19th,” King shared at the time. “Grief is a journey, you know?”
“I understand that grief is a love that has nowhere to go,” King said, “and that we all handle it differently.”
“I know it’s important for me to honor Ian and the totality of who he is,” King said in G.M.A.. She noted that she prefers “to talk about him in the present tense, because he is always with me.”
King also spoke about his son’s mental health issues.
“When it comes to depression, people expect you to look a certain way and to seem heavy,” she said, pausing to collect herself.
King continued: “Having to experience this and not being able to have time to just sit with Ian’s decision, which I respect and understand, that he didn’t want to be here anymore, is a hard thing for people to accept.” because they didn’t live our experience. “They didn’t experience Ian’s journey.”
The actress admitted to being “very angry at God” for giving “that weight” of depression to Ian.
“All the things we had been through, the therapy, the psychiatrists and the programs, and he just, Ian said, ‘I’m tired of talking, Mom,'” she recalled. “What I like most about me is being Ian’s mother and I can’t say that with a smile, with tears, with all the emotions that come with it, I can’t do it if I don’t respect the journey.”
“When a parent loses a child, you still wonder what they could have done to prevent that from happening,” he admitted. “I know I share this pain with everyone, but no one else is Ian’s mom. Only me. That’s why it’s mine and the sadness will never go away. It will always be with me, and I think I saw it somewhere,” Sadness is a reminder of how much he means to me.'”
ET spoke with King earlier this month about his son’s imprint on his upcoming film, Shirley, a biopic about the first black congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm.
“We got here with him, he’s part of this,” King said of his son. “He’s here, he’s covered this whole thing.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
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