Jamie Foxx has had quite the tumultuous year due to a “mystery illness” that reportedly almost claimed his life.
Fortunately, however, he pulled through, and he took to his Instagram page on Wednesday (August 16) to reassure his fans that he wasn’t planning on going anywhere anytime soon.
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“You’re lookin at a man who is thankful… finally startin to feel like myself…,” he began. “it’s been an unexpected dark journey… but I can see the light…”
He continued: “I’m thankful to everyone that reached out and sent well wishes and prayers… I have a lot of people to thank… u just don’t know how much it meant… I will be thanking all of you personally… and if you didn’t know… GOD IS GOOD… all day every day…”
There were plenty of conflicting reports regarding the Academy Award winner when his daughter, Corinne, revealed that Foxx was hospitalized for an unspecified medical complication in April while in Atlanta filming for Netflix’s Back in Action.
Over a week later, a source close to the actor/singer told PEOPLE that he was “awake and alert.”
“He’s OK, thank God,” the source said. “He’s still in the hospital and doctors are running tests but he’s awake and alert. They’re keeping him under observation.”
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Following a few weeks of hospitalization and receiving encouragement from friends and fans, the actor/singer took to Instagram in May to say thanks for “all the love.”
“Appreciate all the love!!! Feeling blessed,” Foxx wrote.
That, however, didn’t stop the wild rumors from taking root on social media. In June, far-right provocateur Charlie Kirk began spreading a rumor on social media that Jamie Foxx had suffered from a “vaccine injury,” specifically, an injury due to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
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That claim was amplified when gossip columnist A.J. Benza and Dr. Drew Pinksy talked about it on an episode of Benza’s podcast. Benza claimed that he had a source “in the room” with Foxx when he was supposedly forced to get the COVID vaccine, after which he allegedly had a stroke due to a blood clot.
The claims were so widespread, in fact, that Foxx’s representative had to issue a statement clarifying that the claims made by Kirk, Benza, and Pinsky were “completely inaccurate.”
The Yale University School of Medicine confirmed that blood clots can be a side effect of COVID-19, and that there is a miniscule risk of getting a blood clot if one chooses to get the Johnson & Johnson version of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, the CDC confirmed that “vaccine injury” is extremely rare, occurring in only five of every one million vaccines administered.
Though Foxx didn’t ever disclose what, exactly, he was hospitalized for, he credited his sister with “saving his life.”
Earlier this month, the actor took to Instagram to praise his younger sister Deidra Dixon in honor of her birthday and posted a carousel of the playful siblings together, including a slide with his other sister DeOndra Dixon, who passed away in 2020.
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“Happy birthday to my beautiful for sister @frequency11,” Foxx wrote. “‘D’… you are magical you are beautiful you are the courageous lionesses #leoseason. And without you I would not be here… had you not made the decisions that you made I would’ve lost my life…. I love you forever and ever happy birthday sis #swipeleft.”
