Jamie Foxx’s Netflix Special About His Medical Emergency Sets December Premiere Date

Jamie Foxx‘s upcoming stand-up special “What Had Happened Was…” will premiere on Netflix on Dec. 10.

In the new comedy hour, the actor will discuss the medical emergency that left him hospitalized and fighting for his life last year.

In April 2023, the Oscar and Grammy winner was sidelined by a sudden, serious medical complication and hospitalized in Atlanta. No official cause has been disclosed, though Foxx has alluded to the severity of his condition in the months since. Most recently, Foxx revealed (via Art of Dialogue) that it started with a “bad headache,” but then he was “gone for 20 days” and woke up with no memory of what happened.

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Earlier this year, while being honored by the African American Film Critics Association, Foxx revealed that he would finally tell the world what happened to him, but he planned to “do it in a funny way.”

“We’re gonna get back to the stand-up sort of roots,” said Foxx, whose last comedy special was in 2003. Over three nights in October, Foxx performed the show in Atlanta, where he reportedly discussed the outpouring of well-wishes (and online rumors) surrounding his hospitalization. Bloomberg reported that Netflix won the rights to the special in a competitive situation.

“I said, ‘If I can stay funny, I could stay alive’ … I’m back,” Foxx says in a short teaser for “What Had Happened Was…” released by Netflix.

The special is directed by Hamish Hamilton and executive produced by Foxx, Datari Turner, Marcus King, James Longman, Raj Kapoor, Hamilton and Katy Mullan. “What Had Happened Was…” is produced by Foxxhole Productions and Done + Dusted.

Foxx is also back on Netflix on Jan. 17 with “Back in Action,” an action comedy with Cameron Diaz that he was filming at the time of his medical emergency. Production on the movie was halted and then resumed in January 2024. Foxx was also temporarily replaced as the host of the Fox game show “Beat Shazam” during his recovery.

Watch the teaser clip below.