For the first time, Jamie Foxx has disclosed details on the serious health issues that left him hospitalized for several months in 2023. In his new Netflix special, Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was…, the actor and comedian confirmed that, while on the set of the movie Back in Action in April 2023, he suffered a brain bleed which led to a stroke.
Believing he was experiencing a simple headache, Jamie Foxx initially visited a doctor who sent him home with a cortisone shot. However, suspecting something far more serious, Foxx’s sister then drove him to Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital, where doctors quickly identified his true condition, prompting immediate surgery.
The 56-year-old Foxx spent the next 20 days in a coma. When he finally regained consciousness, he had no memory of the ordeal and had to relearn basic functions, including the ability to walk.
Foxx said that without the surgery, he would not have survived. “I saw the tunnel. I didn’t see the light. I was in that tunnel, though,” he quipped. “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.’”
After months of recuperation, Foxx made his first public appearance at a Critics Choice event in December 2023. He has since gradually returned to work, with his Netflix special marking his first major project.