WASHINGTON — Jamie Foxx is finally revealing details about the mystery illness that led to his hospitalization in 2023 and disappearance from the public spotlight for months.
In the Netflix special "Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was," which premiered Tuesday, the Oscar-winning actor returned to Atlanta - which is where the medical episode happened while he was shooting for the film "Back in Action" - and addressed his health scare.
Foxx revealed in the special that he suffered a stroke and doesn't remember 20 days surrounding his medical episode.
“You have no idea how good this feels…I’m back!” Foxx declared in the hour-long stand-up show. "I was fighting for my life but I’m here in front of you.”
The actor repeatedly credited Atlanta and Piedmont Hospital with saving his life.
"Atlanta saved my life. The internet tried to kill me, though,” he joked. “We still don’t know exactly what happened to me. All I can tell you is I appreciate every prayer because I needed every prayer.”
What happened to Jamie Foxx?
The actor recounted in detail how it all started on April 11, 2023, when he had asked for an aspirin and then...he "was out."
“I don’t remember 20 days,” Foxx shared.
He went on to explain what others told him later: That the first doctor he visited gave him a cortisone shot and sent him home. But his little sister knew something was still wrong and he looked lethargic - so she told everyone to take the actor to a hospital in Atlanta.
He ended up at Piedmont Hospital and recounted how a Dr. Schuette (described as a "cool" doctor wearing a Laker's jersey) told the actor's sister that Foxx was having a brain bleed which had led to a stroke. The doctor said if they didn't operate immediately, he would die.
“Your life doesn’t flash before your face, it was kinda oddly peaceful…saw the tunnel, didn’t see the light," Foxx described. "It was hot in the tunnel,” he joked.
Foxx told the Atlanta crowd at the Netflix special taping about how his sister prayed throughout the surgery and afterward the doctor told her the prayers were answered. While they didn't find the exact cause, they determined he was having a stroke.
The doctor explained that Foxx may be able to make a full recovery, but said it'll be the worst year of the actor's life.
"That's what it was, Atlanta. You finally got the story...saved me life," Foxx stated.
Nearly a month later, Foxx said he "woke up" on May 4th. He was in a wheelchair, couldn't walk and didn't remember having a stroke. He recounted how he thought his friends were joking when they first told him what had happened.
After weeks in the hospital, Foxx was flown to Chicago for his rehab. He detailed how he was frequently dizzy from the stroke and his head was constantly bobbing.
Foxx also credited his sister, Deidra Dixon, and his older daughter, Corrine Foxx, with shielding him from the public during his rehab and recovery.
“They didn’t want you to see me like that. I didn’t want you to see me like that. I want you to see me like this,” Foxx stated.
Throughout the show, Foxx opened up about his faith and struggling at first to understand why exactly all this had happened.
“And finally, it came to me. It’s about blessings. God blessed me with this talent. He blessed me with all this money and this fame and when I forgot about God, he blessed me with a stroke.”
Foxx also shared how his vitals were "out of control" at one point when he was unconscious in the hospital and doctors thought he was going to die. That was until his youngest daughter, Anelise, snuck into the hospital with her guitar and played for him.
According to Foxx, when she played his vitals stabilized.
"It was God in that guitar," Foxx said, describing the incident as "a miracle." "That's my spiritual defibrillator."
