Jamie Foxx gets candid about his near-death experience, and reveals exactly what doctors told him caused his medical emergency in the new Netflix special, Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was.
Filmed in October in Atlanta, Foxx opens up about his health scare in April 2023, which happened while he was filming the spy comedy Back in Action with Cameron Diaz.
Before diving into the topic everyone was waiting for — what caused his medical emergency — Foxx joked about embattled music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and the rumors that Combs tried to take his life.
“The internet was trying to kill me, though. The internet said Puffy tried to kill me. I know what you’re thinking, did he? Foxx joked. “Hell no. I left those parties early. I was out by 9 p.m., because something don’t look right, it’s slippery in here.”
Related: Jamie Foxx Says It Was ‘Excruciating’ Reliving His Health Scare for Comedy Special
The Oscar-winning actor revealed his health scare started with a headache.
“I was having a bad headache and I asked my boy for an aspirin. Before I could get the aspirin, I went out. I don’t remember 20 days,” Foxx said.
He went to see a doctor. In hindsight, Foxx said he initially received subpar medical care.
“What they told me was they took me to the first doctor and they gave me a cortisone shot and sent me home. I don’t know if you can do Yelps for doctors but that’s half a star,” he quipped.
He later explained how it was his sister, Deidra Dixon, who helped save his life by taking him to the Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. There a doctor told Dixon that he had a stroke.
“Four foot eleven, and full of nothing but love, she said something’s wrong with my brother,” recalled the Ray actor.
“[The doctor] said, ‘He’s having a brain bleed that’s led to a stroke,’” Foxx explained. “They took me in to operate on me — your life doesn’t flash before your face, it was oddly peaceful.”
The comedian went on to share that the doctor said it would be the “worst year” of his life.
“We didn’t find where it was coming from, but he is having a stroke. He may be able to make a full recovery but it’s going to be the worst year of his life.’ That’s what it was Atlanta. You finally got the story. You saved my life,” an emotional Foxx told the audience.
He also became emotional as he recalled discovering he could not walk.
“When I woke up, I found myself in a wheelchair, I couldn’t walk. Jamie Foxx don’t get strokes. That’s old man, sh–,” he said.
Foxx admitted that while he was in Chicago for rehab, he was “letting his ego get in the way of his recovery.”
He would go on to see a psychiatrist and use humor as a coping mechanism to help him fight and his mantra became, “If I can stay funny, I can stay alive.”
Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was is currently streaming on Netflix.
