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

Jamie Foxx broke his silence during his new Netflix comedy 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 bleed that led to a stroke after a bad headache in April 2023.

The special was originally taped in October — nearly two years after Foxx suffered a medical complication during filming Back to Action in Atlanta. His eldest daughter, Corinne Foxshe revealed at the time that “due to quick action and great care” her father was “already on the road to recovery”. (Jamie shares Corrine with ex Connie Klein. She also shares daughter Anneliese, 15, with her ex Christine Granni.)

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

“You know, being quiet sometimes things get out of hand, people say what I got [and] some people said i was blind but as you can see the eyes are working. The eyes work just fine!” he said in an Instagram video. “They said I was paralyzed, I’m not paralyzed, but I’ve been to hell and back, and my road to recovery has also had some potholes. I’m back and I’m able to work.”

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

“I want you to see me laugh, have fun partying, make a joke, do a movie, a TV show. I didn’t want you to see me with tubes running through me trying to figure out if I was going to make it,” he continued. “I can’t tell you how great it is to have your family kicking like that and you all know they kept it airtight, they didn’t leave anything out, they protected me and that’s what I hope everyone could have in times like this.”

Earlier this year, Jamie returned to his set and Cameron Diazupcoming Netflix movie. He was also able to walk Corrine down the aisle in September during her wedding to Joe Hooten. Jamie returned to the stage a month later for his first stand-up show since leaving hospital.

Jamie told the audience at the time that “my heart and soul are filled with nothing but pure joy” after filming the Netflix tribute film, which he said would give him “a chance to say his my side of the story.”

Keep scrolling for longer releases from the special:

What Really It happened

“We still don’t know what happened to me,” Foxx said during the special, describing how he felt a bad headache on April 11, 2023. He asked a friend for some aspirin, but, “Before I could take the aspirin, it came out.”

“I don’t remember 20 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 is it; I don’t know if you can Yelps for doctors, but that’s half a star, n—a,” he joked.

His sister sought a second opinion

Foxx shared how his younger sister, Deirdre Dixonwhom he described as “4 feet only love”, did not accept the first doctor’s treatment. “He says, ‘Put him in the car. That’s not my brother there,’” Foxx recalled, explaining that his sister eventually drove him to Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital.

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

“They take me in for surgery and my sister came down outside the operating room and she was praying the whole time,” he continued, joking that she didn’t “see light” but “saw the tunnel.” He added, “It was hot in the tunnel. [I thought] “Shh, am I going to the wrong place on this mom?”

Foxx reveals he suffered a stroke

After operating on the brain bleed, the doctor told Foxx’s sister that he had suffered a stroke. “He may be able to make a full recovery, but it’s going to be the worst year of his life,” the doctor told Foxx’s sister.

“That was it, Atlanta. You finally got the story,” Foxx said, brimming 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 was working through my youngest daughter,” he added, referring to Anneliese, 15.

“I didn’t want him to see me like that. She sneaks into the hospital room with her guitar and tells me, ‘I know what my dad needs,’” Foxx recalled, saying that while his daughter played the guitar, his vitals stabilized. He then introduced Anelise on stage to play her guitar.

Because he disappeared from the public eye

Foxx praised his sister and daughter Corrine, 30, for taking action after his stroke. “They kept my fk down. “No one sees him!” They cut everything,” he said. “They didn’t want you to see me like that and I didn’t want you to see me like that. There is another reason why my daughter did not want anyone to see me. I was dizzy from the stroke. I was so dizzy, so my head [shake]. He said, “They’re going to get the meme out of this mom.”

His recovery

Foxx explained how he woke up from his coma after 20 days to find himself in a wheelchair. At first he struggled to accept the fact that he had suffered a stroke. “I said, ‘This is old. I don’t get strokes. Stop this farce,’” he recalls.

“They flew me to Chicago for my recovery,” he continued. “Every therapist that came in, I was like, ‘Get the f–k out.’ I gave up.”

Finally, a physical therapist named Holly gave him some tough love and got him started on rehab.

Atlanta saved his life…

As he took the stage at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, 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. He said I couldn’t walk. But look at me now,” she quipped, dancing to Unk’s “Walk It Out.”

Without missing a beat, Foxx slipped in a joke about the recent accusations against Sean “Diddy” Combs — especially his supposed “freak off” parties.

“The internet said Puffy tried to kill me. That’s what the internet said. I know what you’re thinking: “He had?” Fox quipped. “Hell, naw, n—a. I left their parties early. I was out at 9 o’clock. “Something doesn’t look right, n—ah. It’s slippery in here, n—a.’

Later, mentioning how he couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel while in a coma, he joked that he saw Diddy at the end. “I thought I saw the devil. Or was it Paffy?’ he quipped. “I’m around. But if it was Puffy, he had a flaming bottle of Johnson & [baby oil].”