Jamie Foxx has finally revealed the cause of the mysterious medical crisis that left him hospitalized last year.
In his new standup comedy special, Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was, the actor and comedian reveals that his health scare was caused by a brain bleed that resulted in a stroke.
In the special, which debuted on Netflix Tuesday, he details a period that was “touch and go” for him, sharing that his “vitals were out of control” during the first couple weeks following the stroke and that doctors struggled to stabilize him.
He said he had a bad headache one day and asked for an aspirin but before he could take it, he “went out (blacked out). I don’t remember 20 days.”
He told the audience he was working in Atlanta when he fell ill, and was initially sent home by medics after they gave him an injection of cortisone. However, he still wasn’t feeling well when his sister came over a short while later and she took him to Piedmont Hospital.
Once there, he said the doctor revealed to his sister he was having a brain bleed that led to a stroke, adding: “If I don’t go in his head right now, we’re going to lose him.”
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He also said that he remembers a few things about being unconscious: “Your life doesn’t flash before your face. It was kind of oddly peaceful. I saw the tunnel. I didn’t see the light. I was in that tunnel, though. It was hot in that tunnel.”
He then quipped: “S–t, am I going to the wrong place?”
He said when he woke up on May 4, 2023, he was in a wheelchair but couldn’t remember how he got there. He said he was initially in denial: “Jamie Foxx don’t get strokes,” he joked.
Doctors told him he might make a full recovery, but that it was likely to be the “worst year of his life.”
Foxx broke down in tears as he told the audience that he was “back,” adding: “You don’t know how good this feels.” He said the cause of the brain bleed is still a mystery.
Until the comedy special, the Foxx family kept the details around the medical emergency under wraps, which resulted in widespread worry and speculation last year.
In mid-April of 2023, Foxx’s adult daughter, Corrine, announced that her dad had “experienced a medical complication.” She said that “due to quick action and great care” he was on his way to recovery, but never disclosed the nature of what happened to him.
One month later, she shared that her father had been “out of the hospital for weeks” and was “recuperating.”
At the time of his hospitalization, he was in Atlanta filming the movie Back in Action with Cameron Diaz and Glenn Close.
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