Jamie Foxx had an emotional night accepting the Ultimate Icon Award at the 2025 BET Awards. In his address, the 57-year-old actor, comedian, and singer fought back tears as he gave thanks to God for granting him a “second chance” after his health crisis in April 2023.
Kevin Hart hosted the 25th BET Awards, which took place at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on Monday.
Stevie Wonder, who goes “way back” with Foxx, gave a heartfelt introduction before Foxx received the award, joking, “He hit me up because of his win – Academy Award – for Ray. And I said, ‘You know Jamie, just because you play a blind man that don’t mean that we’re besties, okay?'”
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People reported that several artists, including Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Ludacris, Tank, Jennifer Hudson, Doug E. Fresh, Teddy Riley, and T-Pain, performed covers of the honoree’s songs as they paid their respects to Foxx on stage.
After that, Wonder, 75, made fun of Foxx’s “love for blind people.” He also praised his accomplishment, stating, “I’m very happy to be here tonight to see you honored as you well deserve.”
Then Foxx came out on stage, hugged Wonder, and gave an emotionally charged speech.
He said, “I cannot even begin to express the love that I feel from everybody out there. I gotta be honest, when I saw the In Memoriam, I was like, man, it could have been me. I don’t know why I went through what I went through, but I know my second chance, I’m not gonna turn down.”
“I have so much love to give. I told him [God], I said, man, just give me one more crack at this,” Foxx continued as his eyes filled with tears. “I said, for whatever reason you put this on me, I promise I’m gonna do right. And I’m gonna do right in front of y’all ’cause I know a lot of times when we get on, we forget about where we come from. When I did my special, it was in front of Black people. Black people were the ones that said, man, we got you. Not to say that white people can’t pray either. I know that sounds weird, but y’all know what I’m saying. It’s like you guys held me down, and I don’t want to make this whole speech about that, but you can’t go through something like that and not testify.”
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The Oscar-winning actor also appreciated his daughters, Corinne and Anelise, for helping him through his tough recovery and making “sure I was here.”
During his speech, Foxx also thanked BET “for this wonderful award.” He added, “I say this all the time, thank you to Black people and the Black award, because this is what really counts. A lot of people think like the Oscars is the biggest thing, and we got to quit thinking like that. And that’s coming from a person who won an Oscar, I was nominated twice, but the Icon Award is the most important award because it comes from us.”
The Day Shift star recently disclosed that he had a stroke after suffering a brain hemorrhage in his Netflix special Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was. After his medical issue, he took a six-month hiatus from the public eye to concentrate on his recuperation.
The BET Ultimate Icon Award celebrates “decades of groundbreaking contributions to music, entertainment, advocacy, and community impact.”
Snoop Dogg, Mariah Carey, and Kirk Franklin were also recognized in the category.
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