Jamie Foxx reveals he had a brain bleed 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 past hospitalization during Jamie Foxx: What happened waswhich premiered on Tuesday, December 10. Foxx revealed that he suffered a brain bleed that led to a stroke in April 2023 after a severe headache.

The special was originally filmed in October — nearly two years after Foxx experienced health complications on set Back in action in Atlanta. His eldest daughter, Corinne Foxxshe revealed at the time that “thanks to quick action and great care” her father was “already on the road to recovery”. (Jamie shares Corrine with ex Connie Kline. He also shares a daughter Anelise (15) with an ex Kristin Grannis.)

Jamie has remained largely closed about the specifics of his health scare since In July 2023, the actor made a rare statement to clarify some rumors surrounding his condition.

“You know, being quiet sometimes things get out of control, people say what I have (and) some people said I’m blind, but as you can see the eyes are working. Eyes are working fine!” he said in an Instagram video. “They said I’m paralyzed, I’m not paralyzed, but I’ve been to hell and back, and my road to recovery has had some holes. I’m back and able to work.”

Jamie said he “went through something” he thought would “never” pass.

“I want you to see me laugh, have a good time at parties, make jokes, do a movie, a TV show.” I didn’t want you to see me with tubes coming out of me trying to see if I could make it,” he continued. “I can’t tell you how great it feels when your family kicks in like that and you all know that they kept it airtight, they didn’t let anything out, they protected me, and that’s what I hope everyone could have. at times like these.”

Earlier this year, Jamie returned to filming his and Cameron Diazupcoming Netflix movie. He was also able to walk Corrine down the aisle in September during her wedding Joe Hooten. 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 will give him “an opportunity to tell my side of the story”.

Keep scrolling for the highlights from the special:

What Really It happened

“We still don’t know what happened to me,” Foxx said during the special, describing his headache on April 11, 2023. He asked a friend for some aspirin, but “He walked out before I could get the aspirin.”

“I don’t remember 20 days. They told me they took me to the first doctor and he gave me cortisone and sent me home,” he continued. “What the hell is this? I don’t know if you can do Yelps for doctors, but that’s half a star, na,” he joked.

His sister sought a second opinion

Foxx shared how his younger sister, Deidra Dixonwhom he described as “4-foot-11 of nothing but love”, did not accept the first doctor’s treatment. “He says, ‘Get him in the car.’ That’s not my brother,’” Foxx recalled, explaining that his sister eventually drove him to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

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

“They took me in to operate and my sister went down to the front of the operating room and she was praying the whole time,” he continued, joking that he “didn’t see the light” but “saw the tunnel.” He added: “It was hot in the tunnel. (I thought) ‘St, I’m going to the wrong place in this mother — eh?'”

Foxx reveals he had a stroke

After surgery for a brain bleed, a doctor told Foxx’s sister that he had suffered a stroke. “Maybe he can make a full recovery, but it’s going to be the worst year of his life,” the doctor told Foxx’s sister.

“So it was, Atlanta. You finally got the story,” Foxx said as he was 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. “That’s when a miracle happened and that miracle worked through my youngest daughter,” he added, referring to Anelise (15).

“I didn’t want her to see me like this. She snuck into my hospital room with her guitar and said, ‘I know what my dad needs,'” Foxx recalled, noting that while his daughter played the guitar, his vitals stabilized. He then brought Anelise on stage to play guitar.

Why did he disappear from the public eye?

Foxx praised his sister and daughter Corrine, 30, for taking action after his stroke. “They kept me fk down. “No one can see him!” They cut it all off,” he said. “They didn’t want you to see me like this, and I didn’t want you to see me like this. There’s another reason why my daughter didn’t want anyone to see me. The stroke made me dizzy. I was so dizzy that my head would (spin). She said: ‘They’re goin’ on a meme from this mother – ahem.’

His recovery

Foxx described how he came out of a coma after 20 days and found himself in a wheelchair. At first he struggled to accept the fact that he had had a stroke. “I said, ‘That’s an old man st. I don’t get strokes. Stop the prank,’” he recalled.

“They flew me to Chicago for rehab,” he continued. “I said to every therapist that came in, ‘Get the fk out.’ I gave up.”

Eventually, a physical therapist named Holly gave him some tough love and got him into rehab.

Atlanta saved his life…

Taking the stage at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, Foxx said, “Just 400 yards away, 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. He said I can’t walk. But look at me now,” he joked, dancing to Ujo’s “Walk It Out.”

Without missing a beat, Foxx cracked a joke about it recent allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs — especially his alleged “crazy” parties.

“The internet said Puffy tried to kill me. That’s what the internet said. I know what you’re thinking, ‘Did he know?'” Foxx joked. “Hell no, na. I left parties early. I was out at 9, on. “Something’s wrong, na.” It’s slippery in here, na.”

Later, describing how he couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel while he was in a coma, he joked that he saw Diddy at the end. “I thought I saw the devil. Or was it Puffy?” he joked. “I’m running around.” But if it was Puffy, he had a bottle of Johnson & (baby oil) on fire.