Jamie Foxx plans to share details of his medical emergency

Every time Jamie Foxx approaches a microphone, one can expect to be entertained.

And that's precisely what the Oscar and Grammy-winning superstar plans to do when he hits the road to discuss the circumstances of his sudden hospitalization nearly a year ago.

On Sunday afternoon, Foxx proposed to attendees of the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Special Achievement Awards luncheon, a look at the tone of this material – a mix of heartfelt reflection with top-notch zingers – while accepting the AAFCA Producers Award alongside Foxxhole Productions partner Datari Turner.

2023 was a big year for the company thanks to the back-to-back successes of Netflix's “They Cloned Tyrone” and Amazon's “The Burial.” But while Foxxhole's films were rising to the top of the streaming charts, Foxx was fighting for his life after suffering a medical emergency – the nature of which has not been revealed.

“Everyone wants to know what happened, and I’m going to tell you. But I have to do it my way,” Foxx said. “I’m going to do it in a fun way. We're going to be on stage. We're going back to the roots of stand-up.

“It's going to be called 'What Happened Is,' and it's going to be about everything that happened, especially on our side of our community,” he said, joking about the Online rumors that the sightings of “Jamie Foxx” after his hospitalization were not, in fact, him. “I dove out of a car to save this black woman’s purse,” he recalls. “It’s not fucking Jamie, it’s a clone.” (Spoiler alert: it was him.)

Last December, Foxx directed his first public appearance at the Critics Choice Association's special celebration of Black, Latino and AAPI achievement, where he surprised guests by taking the stage to accept the Vanguard Award. Then, in January, he joined Cameron Diaz on the set of “Back in Action,” alongside Cameron Diaz and returned to co-host Fox's “Beat Shazam” with her daughter Corinne Foxx. And on Sunday afternoon, he and Turner appeared alongside other honorees — filmmaker Deon Taylor, choreographer Fatima Robinson, the creative team behind “Killers of the Flower Moon” and the family of the late social justice activist Michael Latt – at the invitation-only luncheon. held at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in downtown Los Angeles

After what he's been through over the past year, Foxx said he sees life differently.

“I am so grateful. And I just get emotional. Because it was really… it goes beyond the scope. Cherish life. I have people in my life that really made sure I was here because it was a desperate situation,” Foxx said, cracking a joke that he was almost Also grateful for everything these days (or at least his daughter thinks so). “I was drinking water, I was like, 'Wow, do you taste this water?' It's so wet. It's the wettest water' (and she said) 'Daddy, you need to relax.'

Foxx seemed back in top form at the event, whipping up the crowd long before it was time to accept his award. From his seat in the center of the ballroom, Foxx urged host Tyrese Gibson to sing a few bars of Sam Cooke's “A Change Is Gonna Come.” On stage, Foxx explained that he insisted on an impromptu serenade because “you just don't know” what tomorrow holds and that his recent experiences have also changed the way he views the entertainment business.

“We should be very excited about playing pretend — at its highest level,” Foxx said. “But it's always those moments where you were in the mirror and you acted like you were Billy Dee Williams. … Now that we're here, it seems bigger than it actually is because there's a lot of things that go with it. But deep down, it's us (playing) to pretend, to make people smile, and that's our art. And art is subjective.

Of course, the stakes are higher for Black creatives, with Foxx sharing how he learned to navigate the industry while working on “In Living Color” under Keenan Ivory Wayans.

“I learned that Black could be great,” he said, explaining the impact seeing an all-Black creative team – from the writing team to the creative departments – had on him. while he was creating “The Jamie Foxx Show.”

Additionally, throughout his career, Foxx has learned how imperative it is to emphasize this excellence, sharing that during the Oscar campaign for “Ray” there were discussions about whether he was saying too much ” Black” in his acceptance speeches.

His response: “We’re going to call it a black story.” Not just because I'm black. It's business. If this black story wins the Oscar, what will that do for the next black story that comes along?

It's also the purpose of events such as the 7th Annual AAFCA Luncheon and the 15th Annual AAFCA Awards, which took place just 12 days prior, both saluting artists, filmmakers, activists, innovators and builders of coalitions and highlighting black excellence in the arts.

THE AAFCA Award — held Feb. 21 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills — celebrated the year's best films, including Cord Jefferson's “American Fiction” and the Oprah-produced musical reimagining of “The Color Purple.” Winfrey, leading with four wins each, including awards. respectively for best film and best musical. Ava DuVernay“Origin” won three trophies.

Individual winners also included Colman Domingo (actor), Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (actress), Sterling K. Brown (supporting actor), Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Danielle Brooks (tied for supporting actress), Lily Gladstone (small group performance) and Jefferson (emerging filmmaker), while Misty Copeland, George C. Wolfe and Jeffrey Wright accepted special honors.

The ceremony was a particularly welcome tribute to “Origin,” the masterful adaptation of Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson's book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent,” which had gone largely unsung this awards season. But DuVernay used her moment in the spotlight to sing the praises of the trailblazers who presented her with the trophies – Debbie Allen and Suzanne de Passe.

“Because she's done all these other things, we forget that this woman is one of the forefathers of black directors — black women directors in particular. She did it first, with courage, boldness and beauty,” DuVernay said of Allen, before listing her credits, including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Fame” and 86 episodes of “A Different World.” , which were particularly formative for DuVernay's dreams. The same goes for De Passe, who was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay “Lady Sings the Blues,” among her long list of achievements.

By having these women present his awards, the torch was passed and the cycle of progress continued for black artists.

That's essentially what Foxx would describe in his speech a few weeks later, but DuVernay also summed it up effectively in his remarks: “'Origin' is about a simple idea that everyone matters.” What we think and believe matters. Everything we do and say matters. Everything we don't do matters. The film was about resistance and triumph. So let’s continue to resist in order to triumph.”

More photos from inside the two awards ceremonies below: