Jamie Foxx Discusses Mystery Illness: ‘I Was Gone for 20 Days’

Just over a year after he was hospitalized with a mystery illness, Jamie Foxx has detailed what led to his health crisis.

Foxx, 56, was recorded speaking candidly with a group of fans in downtown Phoenix. The Art of Dialogue platform uploaded video of the exchange to social media on Monday, July 1.

“April 11th, last year, bad headache. Asked my boy for an Advil,” the comedian and Oscar-winning actor said.

He then snapped his fingers and added, “I was gone for 20 days. I don’t remember anything.”

Related: Jamie Foxx Fights Back Tears at First Hollywood Event After Hospitalization (Video)

Jamie Foxx was spotted in downtown Phoenix, where he told a small group of people that on April 11th, 2023, he had a bad headache, asked a friend for an Advil, and then woke up 20 days later with no memory of what happened. pic.twitter.com/wIhuvN9hCC

— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) July 1, 2024

Foxx noted that he was in Atlanta when he fell ill, and was taken to several doctors. “They told me my sister and daughter took me to the first doctor,” he recalled.

“Next doctor said, ‘There’s something going on up there,’” he continued while pointing to his head.

The Ray star didn’t go into specifics and told the fans, “I won’t say it on camera.”

Foxx made global headlines in April 2023, when he was hospitalized in Georgia while filming his upcoming Netflix movie Back in Action.

The actor and his family have remained tight-lipped about why he was hospitalized, and later transferred to a physical rehabilitation facility specializing in stroke recovery in Chicago.

In March 2024, the multi-hyphenate was honored at the 7th annual AAFCA Special Achievement Awards luncheon, presented by the African American Film Critics Association.

During his acceptance speech, Foxx said he was happy to just be alive after the health crisis left him in “dire straits.” He said at some point he plans to offer more details about his illness via a stand-up comedy special.

“Everybody wants to know what happened and I’m going to tell you what happened, but I gotta do it in my way. I’m going to do it in a funny way, I’m going to be on stage when I tell you, when I go back to the stand-up roots,” Foxx told the audience. “It will be called ‘What Had Happened Was.’”

The video from the AAFCA event is below: