(This story contains spoilers from Jamie Foxx: What happened was…)

Jamie Foxx is finally sharing details about his six-month disappearance from the spotlight due to a health emergency in April 2023. award-winning actor.

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Although titled Jamie Foxx: What happened was… On Netflix and billed as a comedy special, Foxx’s reveal is bigger than the billing. (He even received a Golden Globe nomination for the special in early 2025.) With a mix of laughter, music and sobering truth, Foxx explains to the best of his ability what happened to him and speaks openly about his rehab and recovery process. For the special, he returned to Atlanta, where he suddenly became ill while filming the Netflix comedy Back in action also starring Cameron Diaz. Atlanta, he reveals, is also where he got his start in the comedy scene in 1991. So he goes back to basics and describes the way he snatched his life from death as a “back to God” moment.

The special begins with videos from fans speculating about Foxx’s illness. His daughter Corinne Foxx then takes the stage to thank the audience for coming. “This is a special moment for me and my family. It’s a blessing to be here at all,” she says, before introducing her father with a rousing sentence: “Give it up for my father, him real Jamie Motherfucking Foxx. The curtain rises and there is Foxx with sunglasses and heart-hands emojis on his chest, expressing his love for the crowd.

Foxx walks out with his fist raised and the crowd cheers frantically for his return. It’s so emotional that he wipes away tears. “You have no idea how good this feels,” he says as he enjoys the moment, shouting “Atlanta, I’m back” and dancing through tears. “I fought for my life, but I stand here before you.” When he says, “Atlanta, saved my life,” the crowd responds to his “God is good” and “all the time.” The exchange is a recognition of his black, southern roots and the fact that he feels at home here.

“But the internet tried to kill me,” he continues, at the moment that would make headlines about the Foxx and Sean “Diddy” Combs special. “They said I was paralyzed. They said I couldn’t walk. Look at me now,” he says as he dances to Unk’s “Walk it Out.” He then points out the unfounded online rumors that Diddy was involved in his hospitalization. “It said on the internet that Puffy tried to kill me, that’s what the internet said,” he says. “I know what you’re thinking…. perpetrator?” He also adds a reference to Diddy’s now infamous so-called “freak-off” parties: “I left the parties early… I was out by nine.”

Foxx soon switches to a more serious tone as he announces that “we still don’t know what happened to me” just over six minutes into the special. As he tells what he knows about what happened to him on April 11, 2023, he becomes somber and emotional again as he sits down and says, “What happened was…” and explains how it all started with, that he had a very bad headache.

“I don’t remember 20 days,” he says. His retelling is understandable in that the first doctor dismissed his illness. But his sister, Deidra Dixon, knew he wasn’t himself and drove him around looking for hospitals until she decided to stop at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

There, a doctor wearing an LA Lakers jersey told her that her big brother had a “brain hemorrhage” that was leading to a stroke and that he needed immediate surgery. Needless to say, the comedy takes a break here. But it’s Jamie Foxx, and as he talks about his sister saving his life, he says, “Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying,” and he does just that while alluding to dying and coming back . (He makes another Diddy joke, saying the devil “or maybe Puffy” was waiting for him at the end of the tunnel.)

What he describes is shocking. The doctor told his sister that he might make a full recovery from the stroke, but it would be the “worst year of his life.” He says that’s why he disappeared from the public eye and credits his family for protecting him during his recovery. On May 4, he woke up, sitting in a wheelchair, and had no idea why.

Accepting his condition wasn’t easy, as he admits he initially allowed his ego to get in the way of his significant recovery while in Chicago. “It’s an old man’s thing,” he says when he finds out how bad his condition was. He details the tough road ahead as he initially jokes about wanting to keep his “pickle” a secret from his nurse, before finding out she’s already been bathing him for a month and a half, and a superwoman named Holly credits her with training him. Karate kid-Style to find your will to fight.

Eventually he saw a psychiatrist, which led him to intensive conversations with God. In this exchange, he admits that it took him a minute to change his attitude and fight back. To achieve this, he chose the only way he knew to get well, and that is humor.

“If I can stay funny, I can stay alive,” became his mantra.

With his humor, he impersonates Denzel Washington, Dave Chappelle, Mike Tyson, Jay-Z and even President-elect Donald Trump. It is a unique blend of old and new pop culture to provide a personal testimony of illness and healing.

Looking back on his vital signs, he says that in the first 15 days they feared he would die. He attributes his turnaround to his teenage daughter Anelise sneaking into his hospital room and playing the guitar. She then takes the stage to play the guitar to the delight of the audience and the cheers of her father. Foxx shares his personal testimony in a song, praising the power and grace of God during his illness.

He resumes the humorous portion of his show, recounting some post-recovery encounters with rappers TI and Halle Berry and going over his memorable roles since then Any Sunday, Ali, Ray, Django and even Rio before he started singing his own hits. Finally, he returns to the piano to give a tailored testimony about his “second chance.” Foxx must, among other things, dispel rumors that he was “cloned” when he was discovered during his recovery, before transitioning back into a spirit of gratitude.

This spirit of gratitude dominates the Netflix special. Calling this a “comedy special” doesn’t seem quite right for the show, which is more like LeBron James The decisionwhen he left Cleveland for Miami, only more entertaining. Although it’s raw and sometimes uneven, there’s great potential for a one-man show, perhaps on Broadway, if Foxx ever wants to revisit this difficult and perhaps pivotal moment. For now, though, this special offers insight that no daytime television or late-night talk show could ever offer.

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Jamie Foxx: What happened was… is now streaming on Netflix.

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