Jamie Foxx let the tears flow while accepting the Ultimate Icon Award at the BET Awards on June 9.
After being introduced by Stevie Wonder, the Oscar winner opened on a note of gratitude.
“Man, we used to take this thing for granted — that God is good,” he began his speech.
“I cannot even begin to express the love that I feel from everybody out there,” he continued.
Foxx, who revealed in his 2024 Netflix special “Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was…” that he had suffered a brain bleed that led to a stroke in 2023, expressed appreciation at his good fortune, noting he thought there was a time he could’ve been included in the show’s in memoriam segment.
“I got to be honest … When I saw that in memoriam, I was like, ‘Man, that could’ve been me,’” he said. “But I don’t know why I went through what I went through, but I know my second chance, I’m not going to turn it down,” he said while getting emotional.
“I’m not going to turn down. I have so much love to give. I told Him, I said, ‘Man, bro,’ I said, ‘Just give me one more crack at this and I promise.’ I said, ‘Whatever reason you put this on me, I promise I’m (going to) do right. And I’m (going to) do right in front of y’all, because I know a lot of times, when we get on we forget about where we come from,” he said.
Later, he turned his attention to his family, starting with his sister, Deidre Dixon, who was at the show. He thanked her for helping save his life.
“When I went through what I was going through, she shut it down. And she made sure that she took care of her brother,” he said.
The “Ray” star also paid tribute to his two daughters.
“My beautiful daughter, Corinne, I cannot say enough about you. You’ve always taken a backseat to everything. But when you needed to drive it, you drove. And you made sure I was here … At a certain point, I’m going to stop crying, but I’m not going to stop just yet,” he said, fighting tears.
Foxx then turned his attention to his other daughter, Anelise.
“Anelise Estelle Foxx, my baby with the big hair. She hides under that hair because she got something special. You’re so beautiful, man,” Foxx said.
“When I was fighting for my life in there, I 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 continued. “And as she played the guitar, my vitals dropped. And I realized that God was in that guitar. And the nurses ran in and said, ‘What did they give him?’ My daughter said, ‘Shh, I’ve got him.’”
During his Netflix special, Foxx talked about how Anelise helped save his life when she played the guitar for him in the hospital.
“You know what I found out? It was God in that guitar,” he said. “That’s my spiritual defibrillator.”
She then walked onto the stage with her guitar and they hugged.
“When you think about, as you grow older, you wonder about the hard times. Who’s going to be there? Who’s actually going to be there? I don’t have to wonder that anymore,” he said.
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