Jamie Foxx didn’t hold back when recounting a candid moment with comedy legend Eddie Murphy—a moment that highlighted the strange tension between comfort and creativity.
During a roundtable chat with The Hollywood Reporter, Foxx joined fellow comedians Chelsea Handler, Hasan Minhaj, Seth Meyers, Sarah Silverman, and Roy Wood Jr. to talk about the evolving nature of comedy and the personal experiences that shape it. Foxx, reflecting on the material for his recent Netflix special Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was…, opened up about how his near-fatal stroke gave him not just perspective, but something real to say onstage.
For years, Foxx said, he had a comedy deal but couldn’t deliver because his life lacked the rawness that once fueled his stand-up. “I was rich, I was behind my gates,” he said. “What was I going to talk about?”
He saw a similar challenge in Eddie Murphy. Foxx recounted a visit to Murphy’s mansion around the time of Coming 2 America, when Murphy mentioned wanting to return to stand-up. Foxx’s reaction was blunt: “You can’t.” When Murphy asked why, Foxx explained, “Your house is too nice. Whatever that scent is you got pumping through the air—it’s too perfect.”
The scent, Murphy told him, was pomegranate. Foxx laughed as he recalled telling him, “The fact that you know that lets me know you ain’t funny, bro.”
It wasn’t an insult—it was a moment of real honesty between two performers who both knew how personal hardship can shape material. Foxx admitted that the luxury lifestyle had dulled his comedic edge too, until his health scare reignited something inside him. “This stroke happened, and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is a platform,’” he said.
Chelsea Handler couldn’t resist a well-timed jab: “You will if you have to…” she teased, joking that if the stroke gave him that much material, another might be worth it.
Foxx laughed, but the message was clear—real life, in all its messiness, still writes the best punchlines.
