Jamie Foxx’s Stroke: Here’s What to Know

Actor, comedian, and singer Jamie Foxx revealed that his mystery ailment last year was a brain bleed and stroke.

In his new comedy special “Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was,” filmed in the fall in Atlanta and now streaming on Netflix, Foxx came on stage in high spirits, dancing and working the audience. However, he got solemn during moments of reflection about his recovery.

Foxx recalled that on April 11, 2023, he felt an intense headache and asked someone for aspirin. Before he got that aspirin, he blacked out and was unable to remember the next 20 days. During that time, he was initially taken to a doctor who only gave him a cortisone shot. Only later, when his sister visited and insisted that he needed to go to a hospital, did he get diagnosed with a brain bleed that led to a stroke — likely a hemorrhagic stroke — at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

There, he said, the “cool doctor with the Lakers jersey,” Albert Schuette, MD, said that they couldn’t find where the bleed was coming from but was certain that Foxx was having a stroke and would need an operation, according to the actor. He was told that after his surgery, his vitals were “high” and his condition was “touch and go” for the first 15 days. He was only calmed by his youngest daughter playing guitar in the hospital room, calling this a “miracle” that left even the nurses dumbfounded.

After that, Foxx woke up May 4 in a wheelchair. He flew to Chicago for his rehabilitation at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. He said his family kept him out of the public eye in part because the stroke had left him dizzy with uncontrollable head shakes and an inability to walk.

“I couldn’t wipe my own ass,” he said frankly. “That’s what got me.”

As for how Foxx developed a brain bleed in the first place, “it is a mystery. We still don’t know exactly what happened to me. All I can tell you is that I appreciate every prayer. Because I needed every prayer,” he told his audience.

Foxx’s stroke occurred when he was 55 years old. He did not disclose whether he had had an intracerebral or a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which are two types of hemorrhagic strokes related to a ruptured blood vessel in the brain. During these events, the leaked blood puts too much pressure on brain cells and damages them.

“Bleeding is a form of a stroke and depending where the bleeding happens in the brain, it often causes severe disability. One aspect of Jamie Foxx’s case that stands out to me is that we still don’t know what caused the bleed,” commented Christopher Kellner, MD, director of the intracerebral hemorrhage program at Mount Sinai, New York City.

Common reasons for brain bleeds include trauma, untreated high blood pressure, impairment of blood clotting, aging blood vessels, and a vascular malformation or aneurysm.

“If the bleed was in the subarachnoid space in the brain, an aneurysm is usually the cause,” Kellner said. “Once in a while, about 10% of the time, no aneurysm is found. This is called an aneurysm-negative subarachnoid hemorrhage. Given that an aneurysm was considered as one of the potential causes of the brain bleed, Jamie Foxx probably suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage.”

“When no aneurysm is identified, this might be a perimesencephalic hemorrhage, which is bleeding around the brainstem in the subarachnoid space that is thought to be caused by a tear in a vein rather than a cerebral aneurysm. The good thing about this type of bleeding is that it usually does not happen again,” he told MedPage Today.

In any case, a surgery for a hemorrhagic stroke would involve treating the bleed as well as its source, said Issam Awad, MD, MSc, director of neurovascular surgery at University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences. Awad explained that Foxx’s surgery likely involved removal of the blood clots compressing the brain, and possibly repairing an abnormal blood vessel that was the source of the bleed.

“If an aneurysm is identified as the cause, we have very good treatments for brain aneurysms,” according to Kellner. “Often we can cure an aneurysm in a minimally invasive endovascular procedure with a single needle puncture in the wrist for vascular access and no other incisions on the body.”

“Even if no cause is identified for stroke, it is still possible to reduce the chance of a second stroke by controlling risk factors like quitting smoking, losing weight, exercising, controlling blood pressure, and controlling cholesterol,” he said.

Another takeaway from Foxx’s experience is the importance of recognizing headache and other symptoms of stroke and making the correct diagnosis quickly.

“Symptoms of brain bleeding can be non-specific, like a new severe headache different from any the patient has had. Brain bleeding can often be missed unless careful diagnostic studies are made,” Awad told MedPage Today. “Common lesson is: new bad headache, unlike any one which a patient has had, is not normal and can herald catastrophic consequences if incorrectly diagnosed or untreated.”

Aspirin, for one, would not have worked for Foxx as this drug is known to make bleeding worse for people with hemorrhagic stroke.

“Personal stories of stroke survival remind us how critical it is to recognize the warning signs and act quickly,” said Mitchell Elkind, MD, a stroke neurologist and past president of the American Heart Association, in a statement following the release of Foxx’s Netflix special. “Understanding the symptoms and seeking immediate help are critical to recovery.”

“With any form of stroke, there are possible, time-sensitive treatments so it is important to recognize the symptoms of stroke, as Jamie Foxx’s sister did, and call 911 or go to a hospital immediately. Remembering BEFAST is a great way to remember the symptoms associated with stroke: It stands for Balance, Eyes, Face, Arm, Speech, and Time,” said Kellner.