--- title: Jimmy Kimmel Baby Surgery Monologue: Celebrity Reactions description: Jimmy Kimmel's passionate plea for universal healthcare coverage following his newborn son's open heart surgery garnered tremendous support. canonical: https://time.com/4763587/jimmy-kimmel-healthcare-monologue-celebrity-reactions/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-02T18:40:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:43:17.002Z og:title: Celebrities React to Jimmy Kimmel's Tearful Healthcare Monologue og:description: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Ellen DeGeneres all offered their support og:url: https://time.com/4763587/jimmy-kimmel-healthcare-monologue-celebrity-reactions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc91f51a64b776fe1/6988cbad0a4a223be09cdff8/jimmy-kimmel-monologue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Jimmy Kimmel Live og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Celebrities React to Jimmy Kimmel's Tearful Healthcare Monologue twitter:description: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Ellen DeGeneres all offered their support twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc91f51a64b776fe1/6988cbad0a4a223be09cdff8/jimmy-kimmel-monologue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Barack Obama, Ellen DeGeneres and Other Celebrities React to Jimmy Kimmel's Emotional Monologue About His Newborn's Surgery  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer May 2, 2017 6:40 PM UTC  Jimmy Kimmel Live! Jimmy Kimmel Live!Randy Holmes—ABC/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer May 2, 2017 6:40 PM UTC After [Jimmy Kimmel](http://time.com/4473441/jimmy-kimmel-matt-damon-feud-history-timeline/) opened Monday night’s episode of _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_ by tearfully [speaking about his newborn son](http://time.com/4762882/jimmy-kimmel-baby-heart-surgery/) — William “Billy” Kimmel — undergoing open [heart surgery](http://time.com/4092575/married-people-heart-surgery/), many celebrities took to Twitter to offer support to the [late night host](https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/859267353627865088). Kimmel delivered an emotional monologue that segued from his family’s story to a heartfelt plea for universal healthcare coverage, garnering words of encouragement from Democratic political figures like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. “Well said, Jimmy,” [Obama wrote](https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/859457313232605184). “That’s exactly why we fought so hard for the \[Affordable Care Act\], and why we need to protect it for kids like Billy. And congratulations!” Clinton shared a similar message, but included a warning about the tear-jerking nature of the clip. “Watch & prepare to tear up,” [she wrote](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/859386649125548032). “Thanks \[Jimmy Kimmel\] for sharing your story & reminding us what’s at stake \[with\] health care.” > [](https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/859457313232605184) > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/859386649125548032) Several fellow stars also chimed in to back Kimmel, including Ellen DeGeneres, Seth Meyers and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. See their reactions below. > [](https://twitter.com/TheEllenShow/status/859267246174093312) > [](https://twitter.com/sethmeyers/status/859382735328116736) > [](https://twitter.com/OfficialJLD/status/859261575085019136) > [](https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/859401555321135104) > [](https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/859412159608098816) > [](https://twitter.com/1capplegate/status/859411004291022849) > [](https://twitter.com/billyeichner/status/859393325731913728) > [](https://twitter.com/billyeichner/status/859394513197989888) > [](https://twitter.com/Bethenny/status/859390743642767360) > [](https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/859254868250251265) > [](https://twitter.com/joshgad/status/859400677717676032) > [](https://twitter.com/Rosie/status/859288974380204032) > [](https://twitter.com/BradPaisley/status/859297805764100096) > [](https://twitter.com/joshgroban/status/859287925485383680) > [](https://twitter.com/Tom%5FBergeron/status/859283347503144960) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4763587/jimmy-kimmel-healthcare-monologue-celebrity-reactions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4763587/jimmy-kimmel-healthcare-monologue-celebrity-reactions/"},"headline":"Barack Obama, Ellen DeGeneres and Other Celebrities React to Jimmy Kimmel's Emotional Monologue About His Newborn's Surgery","datePublished":"2017-05-02T18:40:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:43:17.002Z","description":"Jimmy Kimmel's passionate plea for universal healthcare coverage following his newborn son's open heart surgery garnered tremendous support.","url":"https://time.com/4763587/jimmy-kimmel-healthcare-monologue-celebrity-reactions/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Healthcare","Jimmy Kimmel","TV","jimmy kimmel live","Late Night Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc91f51a64b776fe1/6988cbad0a4a223be09cdff8/jimmy-kimmel-monologue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc91f51a64b776fe1/6988cbad0a4a223be09cdff8/jimmy-kimmel-monologue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jimmy Kimmel Live","caption":"Jimmy Kimmel Live!","creditText":"Randy Holmes—ABC/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4763587/jimmy-kimmel-healthcare-monologue-celebrity-reactions/","name":"Barack Obama, Ellen DeGeneres and Other Celebrities React to Jimmy Kimmel's Emotional Monologue About His Newborn's Surgery"}}]}] ```