In April of last year, Jamie’s daughter Corinne said that the actor had been hospitalized for an undisclosed “medical condition” after experiencing a “medical complication.” Many conspiracy theories subsequently emerged, which Jamie himself alluded to when he posted an emotional video in July 2023 saying he “went through something” he thought he would “never, ever go through.”
Now, in his new Netflix special Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was…, the 56-year-old explained that he had a brain bleed that led to a stroke. Before telling his story, he began to tear up and asked God to help him.
“April 11, I was having a bad headache, and I asked my boy for a aspirin. I realized quickly that when you’re in a medical emergency, your boys don’t know what the fuck to do,” he began. “Before I could get the aspirin, I [was unconscious]. I don’t remember 20 days.”
“They took me to the first doctor and that doctor just gave me a cortisone shot and sent me home. What the fuck is that? I don’t know if you can do Yelps for doctors, but that’s half a star,” he continued.
Jamie then thanked his sister for being able to acknowledge and advocate that something was seriously wrong when she was told he was “lethargic.” She then drove him to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. “She didn’t know anything about Piedmont Hospital, but she had a hunch that some angels was in there,” he added, thanking her for saving his life.
It was a doctor there that was able to tell her, “He’s having this brain bleed that has led to a stroke. If I don’t go in his head right now, we’re going to lose him.”
When he went into the operating room, his sister prayed for him in the hospital. Of being unconscious, he quipped, “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. Shit, am I going to the wrong place in this motherfucker? Because I looked at the end of the tunnel, and I thought I saw the devil like, ‘Come on.’ It was that Puffy” — a nod to the conspiracy theory that P. Diddy had poisoned him.
The doctor subsequently told his sister, “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.” Jamie then added, “That’s what it was Atlanta. You finally got the story. You saved my life.” He then praised his daughter and sister for keeping his privacy during his recovery, especially given that his head would shake from dizziness afterwards.
When he woke up 20 days later, Jamie said he initially didn’t believe that he had had a stroke. “I couldn’t walk, in a wheelchair, and I was like, ‘Why the fuck am I in a wheelchair?’ I’m just coming out of shit,” he recalled, taking a beat after being overcome with emotion.
Congratulations to Jamie on his recovery! You can watch the full special here.