Jamie Foxx Opens Up About Atlanta Medical Emergency: "I Was Fighting for My Life"
MSM Associate Professor of Neurology Dr. Chantale Branson discusses what to do if you're having a stroke, which Black patients are twice as likely to experience than white patients.
By Karyn Greer, WSB-TV
ATLANTA — Oscar-winning actor and comedian Jamie Foxx is opening up for the first time about what landed him in Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital for nearly a month.
Foxx was in the hospital for more than 20 days.
“I was fighting for my life but I’m here in front of you,” the actor said during his new Netflix special. “He told my sister some horrible news about her big brother. He said he’s having a brain bleed. This led to a stroke. “
He was filming his new movie “Back in Action” with Cameron Diaz in Atlanta in April 2023 when he suffered what was then called an unknown “medical complication,” saying it started with a bad headache.
“I asked my boy, I said, ‘Listen, I need an aspirin.’ Before I could get the aspirin, I went out. I don’t remember 20 days,” Foxx said.
Dr. Chantale Branson is an associate professor of neurology in the Department of Internal Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine.
While she did not treat Foxx, she is very familiar with strokes and warning signs. She does not recommend taking an aspirin.
“For a brain bleed or certain types of brain bleed, people can have something like a headache. We describe it as the worst headache of our lives or the worst headache ever. That’s when you try to get to the hospital as soon as possible,” Dr. Branson said.
In his newly released Netflix standup special, “What Had Happened Was...,” taped in Atlanta, Foxx joked about that dark time.
Dr. Branson said it’s a good time to remind people to listen to your body.
“The incidence of stroke in the African American community is twice the rate of whites,” Dr. Branson said.
“I ain’t been on stage officially in like 18 years. But, you know, Atlanta made it feel like, ‘Man, I ain’t lost a step,” Foxx said.
Foxx said it was the strength of God and his family that helped him through.
“If I could stay funny, I could stay alive,” Foxx said.
WSB-TV reached out to Piedmont Hospital Atlanta for a statement on Foxx’s comedy special and they responded, saying: “Piedmont is delighted to see Jamie Foxx back on stage and in good health. We are grateful to our dedicated care team who played a role in helping him return to entertaining and doing what he loves.”