Jamie Foxx is taping a Netflix special about his 2023 medical emergency
Foxx will film What Happened Was—his first comedy special in more than 20 years—in Atlanta in early October ahead of a Netflix release
Photo: Leon Bennett/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association
Comedian and actor Jamie Foxx suffered from a mysterious, headline-grabbing medical emergency last year—one he’s only briefly discussed in public, even as he’s slowly emerged back into celebrity life. Back in March, Foxx expressed an urge to take his story to the stage, so that he could tell what he’s described as a near-death experience “in a funny way.” Now, he’s lined up an official plan for that re-telling, with Variety reporting that Foxx has set a new stand-up special, What Happened Was, with Netflix, which will be taped on October 3-5 in Atlanta.
Although he started as a stand-up and sketch comedian, Foxx hasn’t done comedy in a serious, professional way in roughly 20 years, having focused on both music and acting in the meantime. (His last full special, I Might Need Security, came out back in 2002.) Per the Instagram post announcing the dates, the special will be “an unforgettable one-man show as Jamie Foxx takes the stage to share his journey through a serious health scare, filled with humor, heart, and inspiration!”
Netflix reportedly picked the rights to the special up back in May, after a bidding war broke out between the various streamers to see who would be the one to carry Foxx’s account of his health scare. (Meanwhile, it feels unlikely that the special will address the other big Jamie Foxx news of 2023, i.e., his being sued for sexual assault in November of that year by a woman who says he touched her inappropriately in 2015; Foxx has denied the allegations against him.)