Jamie Foxx returned to the stage after suffering a major health scare earlier this year.
“I want to thank everybody. I’ve been through something, I’ve been through some things,” Foxx, 55, said while accepting the Vanguard Award at the Critics Choice Association Celebration of Cinema & Television: Honoring Black, Latino and AAPI Achievements event in Los Angeles on Monday, December 4. “It’s crazy, I couldn’t [walk on stage] six months ago. I couldn’t actually walk.”
Going on to note that he’s “not a clone,” Foxx told attendees that he’s learned to “cherish every minute now” since being hospitalized in April after suffering a medical emergency. “I wouldn’t wish what I went through on my worst enemy, because it’s tough when it’s almost over, when you see the tunnel. I saw the tunnel, I didn’t see the light,” he shared before joking, “It was hot in that tunnel, so I didn’t know where I was going. ‘S–t, am I going to the right place?’ I see the devil going, ‘C’mon, now.’”
In addition to thanking his fellow celebrities for “all of the prayers” they sent him — as well as the cast and crew of his new movie, The Burial — Foxx thanked his sister and daughter for keeping the specifics of his health condition quiet. “I can only say that you need somebody like that in your corner,” he told the audience. (Foxx shares daughter Corrine, 29, with ex Connie Kline and daughter Anelise, 15, with ex Kristin Grannis.)
“I have a new respect for life, I have a new respect for my art,” he continued. “I watched so many movies and listened to so many songs trying to have the time go by. Don’t give up on your art, man. … I want to say six months ago I couldn’t fathom that this could happen or that I would be here, but as I walk up here to this microphone and get this Vanguard Award, all I can say is ‘Lord, have mercy, Jesus.’”
News broke in April that Foxx had suffered an undisclosed medical complication. “Luckily, due to quick action and great care, he is already on his way to recovery,” Corrine said in a statement at the time. Foxx was hospitalized while filming his upcoming movie Back in Action, leaving costar Cameron Diaz to continue filming scenes with Foxx’s body double.
One month later, Corrine shared via her Instagram Story that her father had been “out of the hospital for weeks, recuperating.” Though Foxx and his family have yet to confirm what happened, Mike Tyson claimed in May that the Oscar winner experienced a stroke.
By August, Foxx said he was “startin to feel like myself” again. “It’s been an unexpected dark journey … but I can see the light,” he captioned a series of Instagram pics on August 16. “I’m thankful to everyone that reached out and sent well wishes and prayers … I have a lot of people to thank … u just don’t know how much it meant … I will be thanking all of you personally … and if you didn’t know … GOD IS GOOD … all day every day.”
In September, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that Foxx’s girlfriend, Alyce Huckstepp, has “been a huge source of support through his recovery process,” adding, “She makes him really happy and they spend as much time together as possible.”
Last month, Foxx was accused of sexually assaulting a woman while dining at a New York City restaurant in 2015. According to documents obtained by Us, an unnamed woman is suing Foxx and Catch NYC & Roof restaurant for compensatory and punitive damages, claiming she underwent medical treatment and suffered pain and emotional distress as a result of “sexual assault, abuse, assault and battery.”
In her lawsuit, the woman claimed that Foxx began touching her inappropriately after she asked him to take a photo with her inside the restaurant. As they posed for the picture, Foxx allegedly started touching her by putting both hands on her waist and moving them under her top to rub her breasts. The woman claimed Foxx then slid his hands into her pants and put his fingers on and inside her vagina and anus.
One day after the lawsuit was filed, Foxx denied the allegations through his spokesperson. “The alleged incident never happened. In 2020, this individual filed a nearly identical lawsuit in Brooklyn. That case was dismissed shortly thereafter,” the rep told Deadline in a statement on November 23. “The claims are no more viable today than they were then. We are confident they will be dismissed again. And once they are, Mr. Foxx intends to pursue a claim for malicious prosecution against this person and her attorneys for re-filing this frivolous action.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
