Jamie Foxx Reveals Illness and Why He Was Hospitalized: Stroke, ‘Brain Bleed’

Jamie Foxx has spoken out in a new Netflix special about the illness that left him hospitalized last year and unable to remember a 20-day period from April to May 2023.

Foxx, 56, revealed in his Netflix special “Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was…” released on Dec. 10 that he “suffered a brain hemorrhage that led to a stroke.”

News of Foxx’s “mystery illness,” as he called it on the special, first broke in April 2023, when his daughter Corinne Fox released a statement announcing that her father had been hospitalized following a “medical complication.” was admitted to hospital. It later emerged that his condition was so serious that a family had traveled to be at his bedside.

Since then, the Oscar winner has sporadically revealed some details, including that he had been suffering from severe headaches before the incident and couldn’t remember 20 days of his life.

In the special, he went into detail about what he remembered from that time, found humor in his recovery and explained that he wouldn’t have made it through without his family, including his daughters Corinne Foxx and Anelise Bishop and sister Deidra Dixon.

Foxx also thought about his rehab stay in Chicago because when he woke up in early May, he was in a wheelchair and couldn’t walk.

And Foxx repeatedly stressed throughout the special how close he was to death due to his condition and thanked fans for their support and prayers.

In addition to his comedy, Foxx frequently sprinkled in impersonations and musical performances, and once even brought teenager Anelise onto the stage.

Here’s what Jamie Foxx shared about his health during his new Netflix special.

What was Jamie Foxx’s illness?

In his new Netflix special, Jamie Foxx revealed that he “suffered a brain bleed that led to a stroke.”

He said that on April 11, 2023, he developed a severe headache and asked a friend for an aspirin. At the time, he was working on the film Back in Action alongside Glenn Close and Cameron Diaz, which will be released on Netflix in January 2025.

The initial headaches began a harrowing time for Foxx. “I don’t remember 20 days,” he said in the special.

At the hospital, doctors performed surgery on Foxx almost immediately. Although they could not find the original cause of the brain hemorrhage, they believed that he would be able to make a full recovery, although they told his sister that this would be difficult.

The cause of the medical emergency is still unknown, according to Foxx.

“It’s a mystery,” he said at the start of the special. “We still don’t know exactly what happened to me. All I can tell you is that I appreciate every prayer because I needed every prayer.”

Foxx said he woke up in a wheelchair on May 4 and was then flown to Chicago for rehabilitation.

Foxx’s first update following his ordeal came in July 2023, when he spoke about his hospitalization in an emotional Instagram video.

“I can’t tell you how far it’s taken me and how it’s brought me back,” he said in the video. “I went through something I thought I would never experience. I know a lot of people were waiting or wanted to hear updates, but to be honest, I just didn’t want you to see me like that.”

A month later, he shared another update on Instagram.

“You see a man who is grateful…finally starting to feel like myself…it’s been an unexpected dark journey…but I can see the light,” he wrote.

Jamie Foxx reveals new details about the health crisis

On the special, Foxx revealed that his headaches, an early symptom of his brain hemorrhage, were dismissed by the first doctor he saw, who gave him a cortisone shot and sent him home. In an online review, he joked about wanting to give the doctor “half a star.”

However, Dixon felt something was still wrong because Foxx was “lethargic,” Foxx said.

Dixon drove “aimlessly” around Atlanta with Foxx in the car, looking for hospitals until she came across Piedmont Hospital.

“The interesting thing was that as she was driving around, she didn’t know anything about Piedmont Hospital, but she had a hunch that some angels were sending her,” Foxx said. “Because she said we were what we were going to need.”

A “cool doctor” wearing a Los Angeles Lakers jersey then told Foxx’s sister that he “had a brain bleed that led to a stroke, and if I don’t get in his head now, we’re going to lose him.”

“And (Dixon) shot back and said, ‘You can go into his head, but you won’t find anything because I’ve already talked to God.'”

Foxx was later told that he was taken to the operating room while his sister knelt outside the room, praying the entire time.

“Your life doesn’t flash before your face,” he said. “It’s somehow strangely peaceful. I say this all the time, I saw the tunnel, I didn’t see the light.”

The doctor then came after surgery and said they hadn’t found the cause of the brain bleed, but confirmed he had one, Foxx said.

“He may make a full recovery, but it will be the worst year of his life,” said Foxx, the doctor relayed to his sister.

The actor praised Dixon and his daughters for helping him during his ordeal.

“My daughter didn’t want anyone to see me because I was dizzy from the stroke,” he joked. “So my head would do that (shakes head).”

What is a cerebral hemorrhage?

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a brain hemorrhage, also called an intracranial hemorrhage, is a type of stroke. The blood pools between the brain and skull and prevents oxygen from reaching the brain. The condition can be fatal and requires rapid treatment.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the most common symptoms include:

• Sudden tingling, weakness, numbness in the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden, severe headache, also called a thunderclap headache
• Nausea and vomiting
• Confusion and dizziness
• Slurred speech
• lethargy

Did Jamie Foxx have a stroke?

Yes, Jamie Foxx suffered a stroke in April 2023. In his Netflix special released in December 2024, he revealed that he suffered a brain hemorrhage that led to a stroke.

A stroke occurs when the brain is unable to provide the necessary blood flow, usually due to a blockage or rupture of a blood vessel in the brain, as was the case with Foxx. Both scenarios can lead to brain damage. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, strokes can cause long-term disability or death.