“I don’t remember 20 days.”

As promised, Jamie Foxx opens up about the health crisis that led to his hospitalization in 2023. In his new Netflix special speaks Jamie Foxx: What happened was…Foxx details the brain hemorrhage that caused him to disappear from the scene for much of the past two years, following a health emergency in April 2023 that resulted in the Oscar winner’s hospitalization.

“You have no idea how good that feels. Atlanta, I’m back,” Foxx says through tears in the special edition, released on Tuesday (December 10). The Hollywood Reporter. “I fought for my life, but I stand here before you.” The emotional return to the stage – which has already received a Golden Globe nomination for best performance in television stand-up comedy in early 2025 – is being called A mix of “laughter, music and sobering truth” described Foxx opening up about his rehab and recovery.

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The special was filmed in Atlanta, where Foxx was staying when he became ill while filming his on-screen reunion with Cameron Diaz in the upcoming Netflix comedy Back in action. It opens with a montage of videos from fans speculating about what happened to Foxx, with his daughter Corinne coming out first to thank the audience. “This is a special moment for me and my family. It’s a blessing to even be here,” she says.

Foxx is emotional at first, wiping away tears, before jumping into the red-hot internet rumor mill that was fueled following his hospitalization, which was fueled by a lack of accurate information about what happened to the 56-year-old star . “But the internet tried to kill me,” he says. “They said I was paralyzed. They said I couldn’t walk. Well, look at me now.”

The tone then reportedly turns serious as Foxx says his team still doesn’t know exactly what happened to him on April 11, 2023, explaining that it all started with a very bad headache. “I don’t remember 20 days,” he says, noting that the first doctor he saw ignored his symptoms, although his sister, Deidra Dixon, sensed something was seriously wrong and drove him around to a hospital to visit to treat her brother; This hospital, Piedmont Hospital, is right around the corner from the Atlanta theater where the special was filmed.

There, a doctor determined that Foxx had a “brain hemorrhage” that led to a stroke and required immediate surgery. He recalls the doctor telling Dixon it was possible the actor would make a full recovery from the stroke, but that he was facing the “worst year of his life.” Foxx says that’s why he retreated from the public eye, recalling waking up in a wheelchair on May 4 with no memory of what happened.

“I saw the tunnel. I didn’t see the light,” Foxx says in the special. “It was hot in that tunnel. St, am I going to the wrong place in this bastard? ‘Cause I looked at the end of the tunnel and thought I saw the devil, like, ‘Come on.’ Or is that Puffy (Combs)?”

Foxx says it was difficult to accept the diagnosis at first, but a psychiatrist helped him focus, which led to what he describes as a deep conversation with God that helped him fight hard. to recover by relying on his humor. He says his mantra was, “If I can stay funny, I can stay alive.” He also thanks his daughter Corinne for blocking all contact with him during this time, saying his family “didn’t want to “For you to see me like that.” And I didn’t want you to see me like that… I want you to see me like that.”

Although he feared he would die during the first two weeks of his hospital stay, Foxx praises 14-year-old daughter Anelise for sneaking into his hospital room and playing guitar, a scene she recreates in the special. Jamie Foxx: What happened was… is now streaming on Netflix.

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