Jamie Foxx To Tackle Health Scare In New Comedy Special — Release Date Set

On November 1, Netflix announced that Jamie Foxx’s highly anticipated new comedy special, billed as a "Netflix comedy event," will debut on the streaming platform next month.

Titled "Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was...," Hamish Hamilton directs the special and promises an evening of laughter intertwined with candid reflections on Foxx's recent health scare.

Jamie Foxx experienced a medical emergency on April 11, 2023, while filming the Netflix movie "Back in Action" in Atlanta.

In a brief teaser for the upcoming special, 56-year-old Foxx can be heard saying, “I said, ‘If I can stay funny, I can stay alive,’” and adding confidently, “I’m back.” Netflix’s logline hints at what’s to come, promising "the story we’ve been waiting for."

Directed by Hamish Hamilton, "What Had Happened Was..." takes viewers on an intimate journey through Foxx’s harrowing experience with a medical emergency in April 2023. The incident, which occurred while he was filming the Netflix action-comedy "Back in Action," left Foxx hospitalized and in recovery for several months.

While he has kept specific details of the condition private, Foxx later disclosed that he faced “dire straits” and came frighteningly close to death as the ordeal began with sudden, intense symptoms.

Earlier this year, while being honored by the African American Film Critics Association, Foxx shared that he planned to address his medical crisis in greater detail but intended to approach it “in a funny way.”

A post on Foxx’s Instagram promoting the special, which was filmed over three nights in Atlanta this past October, read:

“Join us for an unforgettable one-man show as Jamie Foxx takes the stage to share his journey through a serious health scare, filled with humor, heart, and inspiration! Experience Jamie Foxx like never before in this intimate and engaging performance, as he opens up about his struggles, triumphs, and everything in between. Get ready for a night of laughter, reflection, and genuine connection.”

Production on "Back in Action" paused as Foxx recovered from his medical emergency, and he also temporarily stepped back from his role as host of the Fox game show "Beat Shazam."

In April 2023, while filming the Netflix movie "Back in Action" in Atlanta, actor and comedian Jamie Foxx faced a serious medical emergency.

The ordeal began on April 11 with an intense headache that led to his hospitalization, during which he was unconscious for 20 days, with no memory of the event. Though Foxx has kept specific details of his condition private, he has described the experience as a “dark journey” and expressed heartfelt gratitude for the support he received during his recovery.

In October 2024, he returned to the stage in Atlanta with a one-man show, "One More Chance: An Evening with Jamie Foxx," where he opened up about his health scare to the audience.

"I have to thank you, Atlanta, you showed up and you showed out, I haven’t been on stage in 18 years, but I needed the stage and I needed an audience that was made up of nothing but pure love and that’s what you were," he wrote in the Instagram post, per People Magazine.

"When people ask me is this a stand up comedy show I say no it’s an artistic explanation," explained Foxx. "Of some thing that went terribly wrong, but thanks to the great people in Atlanta especially piedmont hospital you enabled me to come back and be on stage and do what I love to do the most."

In a TikTok video posted earlier this year, Jamie Foxx recounted his medical emergency from April 11, 2023, to an unidentified group. He described experiencing a “bad headache” and asking a friend for an Advil, only to then “be gone for 20 days," but admitted he has no memory of those days.

Foxx explained that his sister and daughter had taken him to a doctor, where he received a cortisone shot. A second doctor, upon examining him, hinted at something concerning, gesturing to his head. “I won’t say it on camera,” Foxx remarked, adding an air of mystery to the details he chose not to disclose publicly.

"Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was..." is on Netflix December 10.