--- title: Jimmy Kimmel Let Silenced Valedictorian Finish His Speech description: Jimmy Kimmel let the valedictorian whose mic was cut off give his full speech on Jimmy Kimmel Live! canonical: https://time.com/4826393/jimmy-kimmel-valedictorian-speech/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-21T13:28:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:52.378Z og:title: Jimmy Kimmel Let the Silenced Valedictorian Finish His Speech og:description: "Whoever cut that mic off should not be in charge of education of any kind." og:url: https://time.com/4826393/jimmy-kimmel-valedictorian-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltccb547610061b42a/6988d28d0a4a22608b9ceb71/senior.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1498 og:image:height: 843 og:image:alt: Senior og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Kimmel Let the Silenced Valedictorian Finish His Speech twitter:description: "Whoever cut that mic off should not be in charge of education of any kind." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltccb547610061b42a/6988d28d0a4a22608b9ceb71/senior.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jimmy Kimmel Let the Silenced Valedictorian Finish His Speech > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=d1696502-48b3-49bf-ab69-616bdaed3820&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Jimmy Kimmel Tearfully Reveals Newborn Son Billy Underwent Open Heart Surgery [Watch (HLS stream): Jimmy Kimmel Tearfully Reveals Newborn Son Billy Underwent Open Heart Surgery](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EffWXk7I.m3u8) (2:29)  _Published 2017-05-02. Jimmy revealed that his newborn son had successfully undergone the life-threatening operation_ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 21, 2017 1:28 PM UTC  by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 21, 2017 1:28 PM UTC A high school [valedictorian](http://time.com/money/4779223/valedictorian-success-research-barking-up-wrong/) whose graduation speech was abruptly cut off got national media attention this week, but on Tuesday night he enjoyed a much bigger platform: [_Jimmy Kimmel Live!_](http://time.com/4824961/jimmy-kimmel-fathers-day-2017-youtube-challenge/) Before the late night host gave Peter Butera some key airtime via Skype on Tuesday’s episode, he played a clip showing the [Penn](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/06/20/a-valedictorian-went-rogue-in-his-final-speech-his-school-tried-to-shut-him-down/?utm%5Fterm=.e05177917be8) senior class president criticizing the school when faculty shut down his microphone and escorted him offstage on Friday. “Whoever cut that mic off should not be in charge of education of any kind,” Kimmel said before chatting with the Villanova-bound student. “Why were they so mad at you for that Peter?” Kimmel asked him. “I went off script,” he said, explaining he went rogue with remarks he didn’t clear with the school because he felt they wouldn’t let him say them. Kimmel joked that his comments had only amounted to a 2-star Yelp review, before handing it over to the student who made his final remarks to the delight of the audience. Watch the full clip above. ## Transcript So this poor kid, this is what he looked like on Monday. Aw. But this is what he looked like yesterday. [ APPLAUSE ] [ INAUDIBLE ] [ APPLAUSE ] Poor kid not only did he get a bad heart he got my face [ LAUGH ] Yeah that's Jimmy Kimmel tearfully revealing on his show on Monday night that his new born son had successfully undergone a lifesaving operation due to being born with a congenital heart disease. Kimmel and wife Molly McNearny's second child together Billy Was born on April 21st but the late night host revealed a nurse quickly realized something wasn't right. Saying this, my wife was in bed relaxing, a very attentive nurse at Cedars- Sinai heard a murmur and noticed he was a bit purple, which is not common. During the 13 minute monologue, Kimmel individually thanked every nurse and doctor that helped his son. And revealed Billy's diagnosis. Watch this [ MUSIC ] They did an echocardiogram, which is a sonogram of the heart, and found that Billy was born with a heart disease. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Something called tetralogy of fallot with pulmonary atresia. Its hard to explain. Basically, the pulmonary valve was completely blocked and he has a hole in the wall between the left and right sides of his heart. Billy successfully underwent open heart surgery, and six days after he was born he was able to leave the hospital. In addition to thanking Children's Hospital of Los Angeles Jimmy spoke out about families having to navigate the health care system, watch. [ SOUND ] You know, before 2014, if you were born with congenital heart disease like my son was, there was a good chance you'd never be able to get health insurance because you had a pre- existing condition. You were born with a pre- existing condition. And if your parents didn't have medical insurance, you might not live long enough to even get denied because of A pre- existing condition. If your baby is going to die, and it doesn't have to it shouldn't matter how much money you make. I think that's something that, whether you are a Republican or Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right? I mean, we do. Really moving stuff, Kimmel is now on paternity leave for the rest of this week and his famous friends, including Will Arnett Anthony Anderson, Kristen Bell and David Spade will guest host the ABC show in his absence. 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