Jamie Foxx Does Not Want to Be Canceled Over New Hulu Stand-up Special: “After That Kevin Hart Roast, I Had to Cut Everything”

Jamie Foxx is back with another stand-up special two years after What Had Happened Was… and the tone is noticeably different from the Netflix comedy he taped in 2024, just one year after suffering a brain bleed which led to a stroke that nearly cost him his life.

Take Care of Yourself, set for release on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ on Wednesday (Oct. 7), builds on the comedian’s triumph over his health scare, but with fewer tears and more cracks — namely on himself and other celebs in his age bracket — about being at a stage in life where people no longer ask him much about what’s going on. Instead, they encourage him to do exactly what the title of his special suggests. He also takes some jabs at Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump, as well as the people who voted for him.

The 58-year-old, who will soon welcome his third child, talked with The Hollywood Reporter about becoming a dad again, how he felt about fellow comedians saying his last special wasn’t funny and why Kevin Hart’s controversial roast made him cut some of the material in Take Care of Yourself. Foxx also reveals how he felt about Tony Hinchcliffe’s George Floyd joke during the Netflix special and why he won’t go on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast.

You got a lot of people with your impersonations early on — Denzel Washington, LeBron James, Dave Chappelle. Who’s going to be the first one to call you and say, “Why did you do me like that?”

LeBron. I was just on the phone with LeBron, talking to him about going to Philly, which I’m glad he got a chance. The look was off in L.A. It was off because we love — well, L.A. loves Kobe [Bryant] so much. Philly is perfect for him, though. He even looks Philly with that beard. L.A. is a little more light skinned. L.A. was too beige for Bron. I’ll never forget Shaq was like, “Man, why they always trying to get me out of here? Why they want me to leave?” I said, “Because L.A. likes pretty people.”

You also got Shannon Sharpe. Has he invited you on Club Shay Shay?

I don’t want to do no podcast.

Really? Why not?

It seems like you get in trouble. It seems like if you don’t say something so crazy, you can’t really move the algorithm. Even with the Katt Williams [interview], I love Katt, but it wasn’t no follow-up questions. So I don’t want to do the podcast because I don’t want to have to do whatever it is to get the algorithm popping. You got to talk crazy shit.

With Katt, did you call him out for saying your Netflix special wasn’t funny?

No, fuck that. Katt is cool. We’re comics. And if Katt says my special wasn’t funny, that’s better for me because now I got something to talk about. For a comedian, we look for small things of adversity. When everything is too perfect, you ain’t got nothing to talk about. But Katt and I are working together. I got something crazy coming for him.

What can you tell us, a feature, a comedy?

When I got out of my [health] shit, I didn’t have the same kind of mentality. I’ve always championed comedians, but I see Katt and go, “Why doesn’t Katt have his own movie, his own vehicle? It’s time.” So it’s right around the corner.

There was also some subtle political messaging in your routine about Trump, people getting out to the polls next time. What’s the line for you when it comes to politics and comedy?

Politics and comedy, back in the day would make sense. Too much politics now — everybody is so, I guess, sensitive and it’s an interesting time in politics. But what’s crazy is a comedian will tell you, “We want the crazy shit.” Comedians be like, “Man, we don’t care as long as the president is funny.” Barack [Obama] was good looking and fly. What can you say? This motherfucker’s great. But Trump, this motherfucker, every day, he’ll say some wild shit. So as a comedian, politics is where you find funny. And if I could find something funny in it, it’s all good. But when it comes to how people vote, it is what it is. I’m a Democrat. I ain’t never changing.

During the Halle Berry segment, you joked that you were going to cut it out of the special. You didn’t, of course, but was there anything that you did cut?

After that Kevin Hart roast, I had to cut everything.

Why?

Because people became too sensitive. The roast was whatever you thought it was, but when they take the jokes so personally— and it is personal; I didn’t like the George Floyd shit at all — but when you see people respond to certain things, you go, “Okay, man, maybe we need to tuck that away,” because I still want to keep it refreshed. I don’t want to bend anybody into a pretzel and stuff like this. I didn’t get a chance to get this joke in, but getting older and watching Hip-Hop get old and watching some of my heroes get old — I watched this commercial, and it was Deion Sanders in a Pamper. This motherfucker talking about Depends, and I said, “What the fuck? That’s us now.” Halle Berry [is talking about] menopause. I really am a Triple OG. It’s fucked up.

Are you nervous about starting over as a father again?

No, I’m a kid guy. I love kids. My oldest daughter runs the company at 32. My 17-year-old, soon-to-be 18-year-old, has the biggest Halloween festival in Southern California. I miss the kid part, so this will be great.

You said your mentality has changed now regarding what you want to do. What are you looking to do in this next era besides the two sports dramas you have coming up?

I’m so thankful to be working. I think you’re going to love Fight for ‘84, but I just want to continue to do stuff that you like. I was talking to an actress that I really admire, and I said, “I want you to see the next stuff that I’m doing and go, ‘wow,’ and that’s all you can hope for.

At the end of your stand-up routine, right before you sit at the piano, it looked like you were tearing up a little bit—

I might be. I can’t remember which comedian it was [who said], “Man, Jamie be crying.” I said, “Yeah, it was almost over. I’m going to tear up. I’m going to give you the real.” When I talk to my comedian friends and I see them trying to find that super funny moment, I’ve had those. So now, when those dudes said, “Yo, What Had Happened wasn’t funny,” I said, “I almost died.” When you almost died, you’re not going to be like, ‘knock knock, who’s there.’ ” You got to get into it. So that’s another part of this. I feel like I’m still transitioning into getting healthier, and I think Take Care of Yourself is that. We’re talking and I got a little more energy and everything like that, but it’s just real life. I talk about what people say and then I tell them what I am and then the little nuggets, like my daughter being on stage playing, it’s her time now. I’m thankful that there’s enough love out there for me to be able to talk like this.

Take Care of Yourself releases on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ on Oct. 7.