“I’m back!” Jamie Foxx yells through tears at the start of his new Netflix comedy special What Had Happened Was…
That’s not exactly a novel opening from someone whose last comedy special was over two decades ago (2002’s musical special I Might Need Security), but coming from Foxx, the statement is loaded. In April 2023, he became a fixation of the celebrity conspiracy rumor mill when he was hospitalized for a “medical complication” while filming his Netflix movie Back in Action in Atlanta. Depending on who you talked to over the last year, the reason was anything from near death to actual death to an unsuccessful hit from someone trying to keep him quiet. In the special, he reveals for the first time what actually took place: he suffered from a stroke.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]If there was any worry that What Had Happened Was… was going to be a Trojan horse of a title, enticing us with the promise of the whole story before baiting and switching us in favor of observational comedy about seatbelts, it’s dispelled instantly. The special kicks off with a carousel of news blasts and conspiracy videos from the time of his hospitalization before Foxx triumphantly walks on stage and proclaims: “I’m happy to be alive.”
“You have no idea how good it feels, Atlanta!” he says. “I was fighting for my life but I’m here in front of you.” The special, which is equal parts explainer, stand-up routine, and worship session, is Foxx’s love letter to Atlanta, the city he says saved his life.
For months in 2023, the mystery around Foxx’s illness hit a fever pitch, with online blogs, right-wing conspiracy theorists, and pop-culture engagement farmers all weighing in. All this despite his daughter Corinne, who opens up the special with an introduction to her dad, confirming that he was recovering well. Some thought his condition was much worse than they’d been led to believe, with rumors that he was in a coma or suffering from massive disabling effects. Others went a step further and claimed he’d actually died and that the family was keeping the news secret from the public. Anti-vax campaigners latched onto the news and claimed his condition was the effect of the Covid vaccine. And another particularly scandalous, unfounded theory that Foxx had been poisoned by Sean “Diddy” Combs after he was allegedly caught filming Combs’ illicit behavior (Combs is currently facing charges of sex trafficking) quickly gained steam.
“The internet said Puffy tried to kill me. Hell no, I left those parties early. Something don’t look right, it’s slippery in here,” he jokes, in the first but definitely not the last jab at P Diddy in his routine.
Throughout the hour-long set, Foxx is searingly honest about the last year of his life. Until this point, he and his family had kept the details of his condition close, revealing only small tidbits. In July 2023, Foxx first broke his silence, taking to Instagram to tell his followers, “I know a lot of people were waiting or wanting to hear updates, but to be honest with you, I just didn’t want you to see me like that.” He went on to say, “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.”
He said he wanted to be seen dancing and laughing on stage, which is exactly what he does in What Had Happened Was…. He breaks out into dances and quips with the audience about how well he can move, which has even more power when he details the severity of his medical challenges.
Of the stroke, he says, “It is a mystery, we still don’t know exactly what happened to me,” detailing that he was suffering from a massive headache before passing out. “I don’t remember 20 days,” he says, as he pieces together the timeline for the audience and himself. “He may be able to make a full recovery, but it’s going to be the worst year of his life,” he says the doctor told the family about his massive brain bleed. “That’s what it was, Atlanta. You finally got the full story.”
As with most conspiracies on the internet, the truth is often far less interesting than the most outlandish theories. But less interesting doesn’t mean less impactful, as Foxx imbues with solemn reverence the emotional turmoil of re-learning to stand, walk, and clean himself. Much of the special is a journey back to his faith in God, which he shares like an impassioned pastor on a mount. He leads worship songs and recounts sparring with God, on his journey toward the light, about whether he deserved this pain, telling the enraptured crowd that God worked through his family and doctors to nurse him back to health.
In a particularly emotional moment, Foxx brings out his youngest daughter Annelise, who he says brought him back from the brink of death by playing her guitar to him in his hospital room. She says she always wanted the chance to perform together, and while she plays her song, Foxx breaks down in tears while clutching her shoulders.
What Had Happened Was… isn’t so much a comedy special as a celebration of life. In its funniest moments, like a stretch where Foxx relays an interaction with Halle Berry during his physio recovery and a bit where impersonates the likes of Denzel Washington and Katt Williams, Foxx’s comic timing is so slick you forget he hasn’t done a stand-up set in two decades, while he’s been busy with an acting career that’s run the gamut from his Oscar-winning turn playing Ray Charles to the Spider-Man franchise—not to mention winning a Grammy as an R&B singer. But for the most part, the humor of the special comes through the way Foxx processes his pain, which he is sure to never diminish or disrespect. “I never let go of my sense of humor,” he says of swallowing his pride when it came to recovery. His rallying cry that punctuates the set: “If I can stay funny, I can stay alive.”
In the special’s final, triumphant moments, Foxx takes the most brazenly outrageous conspiracy about him—that he is actually a clone who has replaced the old Jamie Foxx—and turns it into a celebration of self. “‘There ain’t enough clone juice in the world to clone me,” he shouts into the crowd. “I’m uncloneable,” he says, as he cycles through a series of his most iconic roles from In Living Color to Django Unchained to Ray. It culminates in a euphoric performance of Kanye West’s “Gold Digger,” a track he originally featured on, that he successfully rebrands as the ultimate worship song.
The last thing Foxx says before leaving the stage is “thank you.” He thanks his family, his doctors, his carers, the hospital, his audience, and God. He even thanks the people on the internet who trafficked in lies about him, but not before a playful “f-ck you” first. He sings, dances, and takes it all in during a moment of silent gratitude as he processes finally being able to share what had happened.
