Jamie Foxx reveals he was hospitalized for a ‘stroke’ from a ‘brain bleed’ in new comedy special

Jamie Foxx opened up about the mysterious health scare he experienced last year in his new stand-up comedy special, Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was….

The Oscar-winning actor was hospitalized last year while filming his new movie Back in Action, with his eldest daughter, Corinne Foxx, saying at the time he had “experienced a medical complication” but was “already on his way to recovery” thanks to “quick action and great care.”

Earlier this year, Foxx told a group of fans it all started with a “bad headache” on April 11 and, after asking a friend for something to treat the headache, he was “gone for 20 days” and doesn’t remember anything.

In his new stand-up special, the comedian revealed the doctors told his sister that he had “a brain bleed” that “led to a stroke.”

“I was fighting for my life, but I’m here in front of you!” he told the audience.

Foxx said in his special that when he woke up on May 4, he found himself in a wheelchair, with doctors telling him he couldn’t walk. He credited the therapists who pushed him to get better, slowly but surely.

“She said, ‘I can help you, Jamie Foxx,'” he recalled. “She says, ‘You remember the movie Karate Kid?’ I say, ‘Yes.’ She said, ‘We gonna wax on, wax off.'”

Foxx said he leaned on his faith in God and the love from his family to get him through that dark period of his life, with his youngest daughter, Anelise, joining him onstage during the special.

His motto through it all? “If I could stay funny, I could stay alive,” he said.

Foxx filmed his stand-up comedy special — his first in nearly two decades — last October during a set of three shows in Atlanta.

Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was…, which received a 2025 Golden Globe nomination for best performance in stand-up comedy on television on Monday, is now streaming on Netflix.