Jamie Foxx reveals brain bleed led to near-fatal stroke
Jamie Foxx has shared new details into his mysterious health scare last year, revealing in his latest Netflix special that a brain bleed led to his near-fatal stroke.
The 56-year-old Oscar winner and comedian opens up about the medical emergency in “Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was,” which hit the streamer Tuesday.
Foxx says he was suffering a “bad headache” while filming a movie in Atlanta on April 11, 2023, when he asked for an aspirin and promptly “went out.”
“I don’t remember 20 days,” says an emotional Foxx. “What they told me was that they took me to the first doctor. And that doctor just gave me a cortisone shot and sent me home. … But my sister, said no.”
Later, at Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital, Foxx’s sister Deidra Dixon was informed he was “having a brain bleed that’s led to a stroke,” and that he would die if they didn’t operate immediately, the actor reveals. The doctor ultimately said Foxx “might be able to make a full recovery,” but it would be grueling.
Foxx credits his sister and oldest daughter, Corinne, with remaining tight-lipped and shielding details of his condition and recovery from the public eye.
“Twenty days I don’t remember, but on May 4, I woke up,” says Foxx, who was stunned to find himself wheelchair-bound and unable to walk, with zero memory of the stroke.
“They flew me to Chicago for my rehab,” he continues. “Every therapist that came in, I said, ‘Get the f–k out.’ I gave up.”
Eventually, one physical therapist gave him some tough love and got him to begin the necessary treatment.
“They said I was paralyzed. Said I couldn’t walk. But look at me now,” he exclaims.
Earlier in the Netflix the special, Foxx addresses the wild speculation that Sean “Diddy” Combs had a hand in the health crisis.
“The internet said that Puffy tried to kill me. … Hell no. I left those parties early. … Something don’t look right,” Foxx quips, referring to the infamous “freak-offs” detailed in a September indictment against Combs.
Combs, who’s the subject of mounting sexual assault lawsuits, was arrested on Sept. 16 on federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. He’s currently in custody at Brooklyn MDC, where he has been denied bail three times.
In November 2023, Foxx was also sued for alleged sexual assault, which an accuser said took place at a New York City rooftop lounge in 2015. Foxx has denied those allegations.