Jamie Foxx alludes to near-death experience in first public appearance since health scare

Jamie Foxx was honored at the Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Cinema and Television: Honoring Black, Latino and AAPI Achievements on Monday night, marking his first public appearance since he was hospitalized for an undisclosed health issue in April. Foxx accepted the Vanguard Award for his performance in The Burial, and while he did not elaborate further on the specifics of his ailment, he did suggest in his speech that the scare was a near-fatal one.

“I’ve been through something. I’ve been through some things. You know it’s crazy, I couldn’t do that six months ago, I couldn’t actually walk,” he said after striding onstage (per Deadline). The They Cloned Tyrone star then joked, “And I’m not a clone, I’m not a clone. I know a lot of people saying that I was cloned out there.”

Foxx continued his speech, “It feels good to be here. I cherish every single minute now, you know, it’s different. … I wouldn’t wish what I went though 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. It was hot in that tunnel too, I don’t know where I was going. ‘Shit, am I going to the right place?’”

Keeping the audience laughing, the actor alluded to a stint with physical therapy and shouted out his daughter and sister for protecting his privacy during his recovery. His daughter Corinne had shared some brief updates on her father’s condition to social media in the wake of his illness; in July, Foxx took to Instagram himself, explaining to fans, “I didn’t want you to see me with tubes running out of me and trying to figure out if I was going to make it through.”

On Monday, Foxx went on to say (via The Hollywood Reporter), “I have a new respect for life, I have a new respect for my art. 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, don’t give up on your art. When you realize that it could be over like that… I got to tell you don’t give up on your art and don’t let them take the art from you either.”