Jamie Foxx couldn’t hold back his tears as he thanked his daughters and his sister for helping him through his recent health scare while accepting the Ultimate Icon Award at the 2025 BET Awards on Monday night. The actor and singer credited his family with being the reason why he’s still here.
“When I saw that in memoriam, I was like, ‘Man, that could’ve been me.’ But I don’t know why I went through what I went through, but I know that my second chance, I’m not going to turn it down,” said Foxx as the camera panned to his daughters Corinnne and Anelise, who were in the audience, and also in tears. “I have so much love to give… Just give me one more crack at this.”
Foxx’s daughters also became emotional as the actor reflected on his recovery and snuck in jokes, referencing people in the audience and the folks who helped “pull me through,” including his sister Deidra.
“My beautiful daughter, Corinne, I cannot say enough about you,” Foxx said. “You’ve always taken a backseat to everything. But when you needed to drive it, you drove. And you made sure I was here… And at a certain point, I’m going to stop crying, but I’m not going to stop this shit.”
At one point, Stevie Wonder came onstage to hand him his trophy once again, encouraging him to wrap up his speech, but Foxx continued with his thank-yous. “Anelise Estelle Foxx, my baby with the big hair. She hides under that hair because she’s got something special. You’re so beautiful, man,” Foxx said.
“When I was fighting for my life in there, I’ve got to say this. They said, ‘We’re going to lose him because his vitals are bad.’ And I didn’t want my 14-year-old to see me like that. But Anelise overheard the conversation, and she snuck into my hospital room with her guitar and said, ‘I know what my Daddy needs,’” he added. “And as she played the guitar, my vitals [improved]. And I realized God was in her guitar. The nurses ran in and said, ‘What did they give him?’ My daughter said, ‘Shh, I’ve got him.’”
Foxx’s speech comes nearly two years after he suffered a health scare following a stroke that led to a brain bleed. He spoke about it for the first time during his Netflix special, What Had Happened Was, where he shared that his symptoms started with a bad headache. “He may be able to make a full recovery, but it’s gonna be the worst year of his life,” Foxx recounted the doctor telling his sister.
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