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Jamie Foxx Told Eddie Murphy He’s “Too Rich to Be Funny”: ‘Your House Smells Like Pomegranate’
May
When comedy legends get real, it’s usually still hilarious — and Jamie Foxx didn’t disappoint.
During The Hollywood Reporter‘s Stand-Up Emmy Roundtable, Foxx joined fellow comedians Hasan Minhaj, Roy Wood Jr., Seth Meyers, Chelsea Handler, and Sarah Silverman to talk about the challenges of staying funny — especially when life is a little too comfortable.
“I had a special deal for a long time, but I had nothing to talk about,” Foxx admitted. “What was I going to say? I was rich. I was behind my gates.”
Foxx recounted a moment of clarity he had while visiting fellow comedy icon Eddie Murphy. Murphy, he said, was floating the idea of returning to stand-up around the time he was filming Coming 2 America. But Foxx gave it to him straight.
“I told him, ‘This ain’t funny. Your house is too nice,’” Foxx joked. “His house had a scent — the kind that pumps through like a hotel. I said, ‘What is that smell?’ He said, ‘It’s pomegranate.’ And I said, ‘The fact that you know that lets me know you ain’t funny, bro.’”
Foxx’s point? When your life is too perfect, it’s tough to be relatable — and comedy thrives on struggle.
He knows the territory well. In April 2023, Foxx suffered a medical crisis that resulted in a brain bleed and a stroke, leaving him hospitalized for over a month. The experience became the backbone of his Netflix stand-up special, What Had Happened Was, which debuted in December.
“I still don’t know exactly what happened to me,” Foxx told the audience in the special. “All I can tell you is that I appreciate every prayer because I needed it.” He said he lost about 20 days of memory during the ordeal and woke up in a wheelchair, confused and disoriented.
“I asked my friend, ‘Why am I in a wheelchair?’ And he said, ‘Foxx, you had a stroke.’”
Now recovered and back on stage, Foxx jokes that while his stroke gave him plenty of material, he’s not looking for a sequel. “This stroke happened, and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is a platform.’ But I don’t want to have to have another stroke, even though we have [a deal for] another hour.”
With Murphy possibly eyeing a return and Foxx reclaiming his comedic roots, one thing’s clear: Sometimes, the best punchlines come after life hits the hardest — pomegranate air freshener and all.
