“Man, I almost died.”

That’s how Jamie Foxx described his 2023 health emergency during an October 5 interview with Good Morning America’s Will Reeve. Three years later, the actor and comedian is back onstage and still processing how close he came to dying. “I was almost outta here,” he said.

Foxx first explained the medical crisis in his December 2024 Netflix special, What Had Happened Was…, revealing that a brain bleed had led to a stroke. Now 58, he’s back with a new Hulu special, Take Care of Yourself, and sharing more about the people who helped him survive and how the experience changed the way he lives and works.


What Happened to Jamie Foxx in April 2023?

Foxx was in Atlanta filming Back in Action when things took a frightening turn.

“April 11, I was having a bad headache, and I asked my boy for an aspirin,” he recalled in his Netflix special. “Before I could get the aspirin, I went out.” Not long after, he was rushed to the hospital.

At the time, his family said very little. In a now-deleted Instagram post written on the family’s behalf, his daughter Corinne Foxx said he had “experienced a medical complication” and was already on his way to recovery “due to quick action and great care.” The family kept everything else private.

The Brain Bleed, the Stroke, and the 20 Days He Can’t Remember

What Had Happened Was… marked the first time Foxx spoke openly about what caused his hospitalization, per WSB-TV. He walked the audience through what he’s been able to piece together, starting with a pretty startling admission: “I don’t remember 20 days.”

According to Foxx, the first doctor he saw missed what was really going on. He got a cortisone shot and was sent home. His sister wasn’t buying it. “That ain’t my brother right there,” she said. She drove him to a hospital, where doctors found the brain bleed and said he needed an operation to survive.

Foxx said he woke up on May 4 in a wheelchair, unable to walk, and didn’t believe he’d had a stroke. He later went to Chicago for rehab.

Even after all that, some answers are still missing.

“We still don’t know exactly what happened to me,” Foxx said in the special. He hasn’t shared a more specific diagnosis than “brain bleed” and “stroke,” or exactly how long he stayed in the hospital.

Why Foxx Says He Has ‘Unfinished Business’

The most emotional part of Foxx’s 2026 update was his return to the people who cared for him.

“I went back to see those nurses that kept me alive,” he told Reeve. One of them called him “a miracle” and “a three percenter.” When he asked what that meant, she said, “Less than 3% of people that come in with what you have walk out of here.”

Foxx also credited his close circle of friends and loved ones with helping him recover: “They saw me at my most, you know, vulnerable. I had to depend on people.”

According to ABC News, Foxx feels he has “unfinished business,” and he’s channeling it into stand-up.

“I went through some stuff and I’m gonna tell it as funny as I can, but as real as I can,” he said. He’s also feeling more creative than ever. “I’ve never been as creative as I am now,” he said, adding that there are still “some things that I’m really trying to get at.”

What Jamie Foxx Does Differently Now

Some of what’s changed is physical. In a recent interview with BET News, Foxx looked back on a moment from about 10 years ago, when he was 48 and trying to get back in shape.

“My doctor banned me from lifting weights. A few years ago. Cause I couldn’t hold my swole,” Foxx told Young.

He said he’d spend roughly four hours bench pressing, and right after, his muscles looked bigger. “I kind of puffed up,” Foxx continued. “I said, ‘Oh yeah, I’m back.’” But when he caught his reflection on the way to his car, the pumped-up look was already gone. “I said, what was it four hours for?”

His doctor pointed to his age as the reason, handed him a bag of resistance bands, and said, “That’s your new workout plan.”

His comedy has changed, too. Ahead of Take Care of Yourself, Foxx told The Hollywood Reporter that he cut material after seeing the backlash to some of the jokes at Kevin Hart’s roast, including a widely criticized joke about George Floyd’s murder, which Foxx said he didn’t like either.

“After that Kevin Hart roast, I had to cut everything,” he said. When “you see people respond to certain things, you go, ‘Okay, man, maybe we need to tuck that away,’” he told the outlet.

How to Watch Jamie Foxx’s Specials in Order

For the full story, start with What Had Happened Was… on Netflix for his first onstage account of the health scare. Next, watch his GMA interview with Reeve. Then move on to Jamie Foxx: Take Care of Yourself on Hulu, a follow-up to the Netflix special that explores self-care, aging, and personal growth.

Take Care of Yourself premiered on Hulu on October 7, 2026, and it’s clear Foxx isn’t done telling his story. He still can’t remember 20 days of his life, but he hasn’t forgotten the nurse who told him his odds of walking out of the hospital were “less than 3%.”





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