Jamie Foxx reveals he had a brain hemorrhage that led to a stroke

Jamie Foxx broke his silence during his new Netflix comedy special about what led to his mysterious health scare — and how he’s doing now.

Foxx, 56, opened up about his previous hospitalization during Jamie Foxx: What had happened waswhich premiered on Tuesday, December 10. Foxx revealed that he had a brain hemorrhage that led to a stroke after experiencing severe headaches in April 2023.

The special was originally taped in October – almost two years after Foxx experienced a medical complication during filming Back in action in Atlanta. His eldest daughter, Corine Foxxrevealed at the time that her father was “already on the road to recovery” “thanks to quick action and great care.” (Jamie shares Corrine with ex Connie Kline. He also shares daughter Anelise, 15, with ex Kristin Grannis.)

Related: Jamie Foxx through the years: ‘In Living Color’ and beyond

A versatile star! Jamie Foxx got his start in sketch comedy before becoming an Oscar-winning actor. Foxx began playing piano at an early age and subsequently performed and led the choir at New Hope Baptist Church in his hometown of Terrell, Texas. As a teenager, he excelled in basketball and football before making his choice […]

Jamie has largely remained tight-lipped about the specifics of his health scare since then. In July 2023, the actor made a rare statement to clear up some rumors surrounding his condition.

‘You know, being quiet sometimes makes things get out of hand, people say what I have [and] some people said I was blind, but as you can see the eyes work. The eyes work great!” he said in an Instagram video. “They said I was paralyzed, I’m not paralyzed, but I went to hell and back, and my road to recovery also had some holes. I will come back and I can work.”

Jamie said he “experienced something” that he thought he would “never” experience.

“I want you to see me laughing, having fun partying, joking, making a movie or doing a television show. “I didn’t want you to see me with the tubes running out of my body and I was trying to figure out if I was going to make it,” he continued. “I can’t tell you how amazing it feels to see your family step in like that and you all know they kept it airtight, they didn’t let anything out, they protected me, and that’s what I hope that anyone could do that. at times like these.”

Earlier this year, Jamie returned to the set of his and Cameron Diaz‘s upcoming Netflix movie. He was also able to walk Corrine down the aisle at her wedding in September Joe Hoeten. Jamie returned to the stage a month later for his first stand-up show since being released from hospital.

Jamie told the audience at the time that his “heart and my soul are filled with nothing but pure joy” after filming the Netflix special, which would give him “the opportunity to tell my side of the story,” he teased.

Keep scrolling for the special’s biggest benefits:

What Real Happened

“We still don’t know what happened to me,” Foxx said during the special, describing how he suffered severe headaches on April 11, 2023. He asked a friend for some aspirin, but: “Before I could get the aspirin, I passed out.”

“I can’t remember twenty days. What they told me was that they took me to the first doctor and that first doctor gave me a cortisone shot and sent me home,” he continued. ‘What the hell is that? I don’t know if you can do Yelps for doctors, but that’s half a star,” he joked.

His sister asked for a second opinion

Foxx shared how his younger sister, Deidra Dixonwho he described as “four feet tall of nothing but love,” did not accept the first doctor’s treatment. “She says, ‘Put him in the car.’ That’s not my brother right there,” Foxx recalled, explaining that his sister eventually took him to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

At the hospital, a doctor told the Oscar winner’s sister: “He has a brain hemorrhage that has led to a stroke.” Foxx said, “He said, ‘If I don’t get in his head right now, we’re going to lose him.'”

“They took me to operate, and my sister went outside the operating room and prayed the whole time,” he continued, joking that he “didn’t see the light” but that he “saw the tunnel.” He added: ‘It was hot in the tunnel. [I thought] ‘S–t, am I going to the wrong place in this motherf-er?’”

Foxx reveals he had a stroke

After surgery for the brain hemorrhage, the doctor told Foxx’s sister that he had had a stroke. “He may make a full recovery, but it will be the worst year of his life,” the doctor told Foxx’s sister.

“That’s it, Atlanta. You finally got the story,” Foxx said as he became overcome with emotion.

How his daughter helped his recovery

“My vitals were so bad they thought they were going to lose me,” Foxx said of the first 15 days after his medical emergency. “Then a miracle happened, and that miracle worked through my youngest daughter,” he added, referring to 15-year-old Anelise.

‘I didn’t want her to see me like that. She snuck into my hospital room with her guitar and said, ‘I know what my dad needs,'” Foxx recalled, saying that as his daughter played the guitar, his vital signs stabilized. He then introduced Anelise on stage to play her guitar.

Why he disappeared from the public eye

Foxx praised his sister and his daughter, Corrine, 30, for taking action after his stroke. ‘They held me. “No one sees him!” They cut it all off,” he said. “They didn’t want you to see me like that and I didn’t want you to see me like that. There’s another reason why my daughter didn’t want anyone to see me. I was dizzy from the stroke. I was so dizzy that my head felt the same way [shake]. She said, “They’re going to drive this mother crazy.”

His recovery

Foxx explained how he woke up from his coma after twenty days and ended up in a wheelchair. At first he had difficulty accepting the fact that he had had a stroke. ‘I said, ‘That’s an old man. I don’t get strokes. Stop this damn joke,” he recalled.

“They flew me to Chicago for my rehab,” he continued. “Every therapist who came in, I said, ‘Go away.’ I’ve given up.”

Eventually, a physical therapist named Holly gave him tough love and allowed him to begin rehab.

Atlanta saved his life…

As he took the stage at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Foxx said, “Just 400 yards from here, at Piedmont Hospital, they put me back together. To God be the glory.”

But the internet tried to kill him

“They said I was paralyzed. Said I couldn’t walk. But look at me now,” he joked as he danced to Unk’s “Walk It Out.”

Without missing a beat, Foxx started joking about the recent allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs – especially his so-called ‘freak off’ parts.

“The internet said Puffy tried to kill me. That’s what the internet said. I know what you’re thinking: ‘Did he do that?’” Foxx joked. “Damn, no, na. I left those parties early. I was gone at nine o’clock, na. ‘Something doesn’t look right, na. It’s slippery here, after all. ”

He later talked about how he couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel while he was in a coma, and joked about seeing Diddy at the end. ‘I thought I saw the devil. Or was that swollen?” he joked. “I’m hanging out. But if it was Puffy, he’d have a flaming bottle of Johnson & [baby oil].”