When Jamie Foxx accepted the Ultimate Icon Award at the 2025 BET Awards on Monday, the actor, comedian and singer made sure to shout out his family, including his two daughters, whom he credited for helping him recover from a health scare two years ago.
The 57-year-old teared up during his emotional and lengthy acceptance speech, referencing his life-threatening medical episode in April 2023 and thanking the important people in his life.
PHOTO: BET Ultimate Icon Award recipient actor Jamie Foxx speaks on stage during the 2025 BET Awards at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on June 9, 2025. (Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images)
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“I have to thank my family. I have to thank my sister Deidra [Dixon], who’s in the audience right now,” Foxx said. “When I went through what I was going through, she shut it down, and she made sure that she took care of her brother. Little Black girl from South Dallas and she does all the hair and makeup on the Marvel films — that’s her.”
PHOTO: Jamie Foxx accepts the ultimate icon award during the BET Awards, on June 9, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello/Invision via AP)
Foxx also spotlighted both of his daughters, starting with Corinne Fox, 31, who is an actor like her father.
PHOTO: Jamie Foxx and his daughter Corinne Foxx attend an event at The Comedy Store, on May 29, 2025, in West Hollywood, Calif. (Emma Mcintyre/Getty Images for Netflix)
“My beautiful daughter, Corinne. I cannot say enough about you. You’ve always taken the backseat to everything. But when you needed to drive it, you drove, and you made sure I was here,” the proud father said. “And I ain’t going to turn down. And I’m not going to stop crying. I got to stop. At a certain point, I’m going to stop crying, but I ain’t going to stop just yet.”
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Foxx then turned to younger daughter Anelise, 16, who enjoys playing the piano and guitar, as he revealed previously .
PHOTO: Annalise Bishop, Jamie Foxx and Corinne Foxx attend the 2025 BET Awards at Peacock Theater, on June 9, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for BET)
“When I was fighting for my life in there, I got to say this. They said that ‘we’re going to lose him because his vitals is bad.’ And I didn’t want my 14-year-old to see me like that,” Foxx said. “But Anelise overheard the conversation and she snuck into my hospital room with her guitar and said, ‘I know what my daddy needs.’ And then she played the guitar — my vitals dropped and I realized God was in that guitar, and the nurses ran in and said, ‘What did they give him?’ And my daughter says, “Shh, I got him.'”
Foxx’s family initially released few details about his mysterious condition back in 2023. In a Netflix special released in December 2024, Foxx opened up about what his medical team had told his family and revealed they informed his younger sister that he’d had a brain bleed that led to a stroke.
“I got to be honest. When I saw the [in memoriam], I was like, man, that could have been me,” Foxx said in his acceptance speech Monday.
He added, “I don’t know why I went through what I went through, but I know my second chance I’m not going to turn down.”
Jamie Foxx says he was given ‘second chance’ after health scare originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
