Jamie Foxx Recalls His Stroke in Emotional BET Awards Speech 

Jamie Foxx teared up during the 2025 BET Awards as he recalled his recent stroke.

“Man, we used to take this thing for granted — that God is good,” Foxx, 57, said as he accepted the Ultimate Icon Honor at the Monday, June 9 ceremony in Los Angeles. 

“All the time,” he continued. “I cannot even begin to express the love that I feel from everybody out there.”

He added, “I gotta be honest — when I saw the ‘in memoriam’ [portion of the awards show], I was like, ‘Man, that could have been me.’ But I don’t know why I went through what I went through, but I know my second chance I’m not going [to] turn down. I’m not going to turn down.”

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The Oscar-winning actor recalled requesting “one more crack” at life. 

“I said, ‘Whatever reason you put this on me, I promise I’mma do right,’” he told the audience. “I’mma do right in front of y’all, because I know a lot of times, when we get on we forget about where we come from.”

In April 2023, Foxx suffered a medical emergency that left him hospitalized. He revealed in his December 2024 Netflix special, Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was, that he had a brain bleed that led to a stroke.

Foxx explained that he experienced a bad headache at the time and asked a friend for some medicine. 

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“Before I could get the aspirin, I went out,” he said. “I don’t remember 20 days. What they told me was that they took me to the first doctor and that first doctor gave me a cortisone shot and sent me home. What the f*** is that? I don’t know if you can do Yelps for doctors, but that’s half a star.”

Foxx’s younger sister, Deidra Dixon, sought a second opinion at Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital, where a doctor informed her of Foxx’s brain bleed and stroke and told her, “If I don’t go into his head right now, we’re gonna lose him.”

After operating on Foxx, the doctor told his sister, “He may be able to make a full recovery, but it’s gonna be the worst year of his life.” He woke up from a coma after 20 days and then went to Chicago for rehab. He stayed out of the spotlight for months while he recovered from the health scare.

During his speech on Monday, Foxx thanked his team “for pulling me through. I’m seasoned. I don’t want to say I’m old, but I am older. So, usually at this time, at this age, you’re playing that father on Disney. You know, you got that big-ass sweater and the coffee mug? But luckily, I have a great team that stabilized me.”

Addressing his peers in the Black community, he added: “The Icon Award is the most important award because it comes from us.”