Jamie Foxx Felt “Pure Joy” Onstage After Medical Emergency

It’s been more than 18 months since Jamie Foxx suffered an undisclosed “medical complication” that left him hospitalized for weeks. But on Sunday, October 13, the actor was feeling “pure joy” following his first live stage show since the April 2023 health event.

“God is good…. As I post these pictures, my heart and my soul is filled with nothing but pure joy,” the 56-year-old Oscar winner wrote on Instagram, detailing his performances earlier this month of One More Chance: An Evening with Jamie Foxx. During the one-man show, Foxx said he “had an opportunity to tell my side of the story and there was no better place than Atlanta, Georgia.”

The medical complication occurred while the actor was in Atlanta shooting the movie Back in Action, a Netflix comedy costarring Cameron Diaz (in her first feature-film role in almost 10 years). At an event in July, Foxx shared that his symptoms began as a “bad headache” and he “asked my boy for an Advil.” Foxx was then “gone for 20 days” and “doesn’t remember anything” from that period. While accepting an honorary Critics Choice Award in December, the actor said that for a time, “I couldn’t actually walk.”

In his latest social media post, Foxx wrote, “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,” adding, “people ask me is this a stand up comedy show I say no it’s an artistic explanation.”

Foxx was first sighted in public again in July 2023 on a boat on the Chicago River. Later that month, he thanked his family, friends, and fans for their support, writing on Instagram: “I went to hell and back, and my road to recovery has some potholes as well, but I’m coming back.” He also hinted at a return to work. “Every once in a while, I just burst into tears…because it’s been tough, man, I was sick,” Foxx explained. “But now I’ve got my legs under me, so you’re going to see me.”

In September, Foxx walked his daughter, Corinne Foxx, down the aisle during her wedding to Joe Hooten. “It was incredibly special, considering his health scare last year,” Corinne told Vogue. “I walked down [the aisle] to a strings version of ‘Georgia on My Mind’ by Ray Charles. My dad won his Oscar for playing [Charles in Ray] in 2005. At 10 years old, I was his plus one and got to share that special moment with him. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when we came down the aisle.”