Jamie Foxx fell into a coma last spring while shooting the film Back in Action, he said during the taping of his soon-to-be-released Netflix stand-up special, multiple outlets reported, citing audience members.
In recent months, Foxx teased that he would address the subject more in depth in his special, What Had Happened Was…, which will be released on the streaming platform Dec. 10.
During the October taping in Atlanta, the actor said he first believed he had only passed out for a few hours.
“He basically passed out in an elevator and he thought he woke up a couple hours later. Well, he was actually in a coma and didn’t wake up until a few weeks later,” audience member Demecos Chambers told People.
“It was just pure exhaustion. His body was just exhausted due to him getting up there in age, and his body just faltering out on him,” Chambers recalled Foxx saying.
At the time, Foxx was described as having been hospitalized with an unspecified “medical condition.”
Chambers recalled that in his set, Foxx counterbalanced the seriousness of the subject with some levity.
“While he’s telling the story, he’s throwing bits in there left and right,” he told the outlet. “It’s stand-up comedy. He’s dancing a little bit. He’s playing songs on the piano.”
Chambers and another attendee both told CNN that while they were instructed to put their phones in pouches during the taping, they were able discuss what Foxx shared because they didn’t sign any type of non-disclosure agreement.
When Foxx was unconscious in the hospital, Chambers said, one of his daughters played a family guitar by his side, “and that is what woke him up and kept him alive during his coma.“
“He really worships his daughters. They play a significant part of the show. He says this situation gave him a grander perspective on life and the people around him,” Chambers said.
“Jamie is an amazing storyteller,” he added of the Academy Award winner. “He can tell a story where you feel like you’re sitting with your uncles. It was hilarious.”
