Jamie Foxx reps push back at Covid claims

Last Updated on June 22, 2023

Representatives for actor Jamie Foxx are pushing back claims that his hospital stay stemmed from getting a Covid vaccine, saying such allegations are “completely inaccurate.”

The claim that Jamie Foxx was forced to go to the hospital due to reactions from a Covid shot come from, not surprisingly, those without any actual evidence to back it up. Case in point: A.J. Benza, the gossip columnist who might best be remembered as the guy who swung at “Stuttering” John Melendez and made Gary “Baba Booey” Dell’Abate scream like a mama monkey. At best, it’s one of the great moments of Howard Stern’s E! show; at worst, it gives another glimpse into the sort of person Benza is.

On Drew Pinsky’s Ask Dr. Drew show, Benza said a source “in the room” told him that Jamie Foxx had been admitted after his Covid shot, which left him “partially paralyzed and blind.” He also developed a blood clot that, in turn, led to a stroke. In an email to NBC News, Pinsky – who didn’t actively challenge Benza on the broadcast – wrote, “The statements from A.J. were based on his own confidential sources, so I can’t speculate further than what he said on the show. I sincerely hope that AJ’s sources are wrong and Mr. Foxx will make a full recovery. There is no evidence and I have no reason to believe that his medical condition is directly related to vaccine therapy or a post-COVID phenomenon. Any evidence of either would have to come from his physicians.”

Still, the rumor mill went to work, with others quickly taking it as gospel that a Covid vaccine landed Jamie Foxx in the hospital. One individual who began spreading the unsubstantiated claims was actor Kevin Sorbo, who tweeted an article promoting Benza’s words:

Conservative commentator Candace Owens suggested the Foxx family’s lack of communication has been telling. “Their silence seems as though there is some veracity to this claim…We’re all holding our breath to see whether or not Jamie Foxx speaks out.” Jamie Foxx’s daughter, Corinne, has been mostly quiet on the matter – and the family has every right to be – which has made speculation on the hospital stay rampant. She wrote in May, “Sad to see how the media runs wild. My Dad has been out of the hospital for weeks, recuperating.”

What are your thoughts on the claims that Jamie Foxx’s “medical complication” came from a Covid shot? How, if at all, can the family talk down the rumors?