Jamie Foxx stopped partying after Oprah Winfrey staged an intervention and warned him it could ruin his career.
The 45-year-old actor received the best reviews of his career and was nominated for an Oscar for his leading role in Ray Charles’ biopic Ray in 2005, and though he was having a “good time” during awards season, he didn’t realize how much he was “f***ing up” until he received a phone call from the iconic talk show host.
He recalled to Sirius XM top shock jock Howard Stern, “I’m having such a good time and I’m not knowing I’m f***ing up. I’m drinking … I’m doing every f***ing thing you could possibly imagine.”
He then explained how Oprah called him and warned, “You’re blowing it, Jamie Foxx. All of this gallivanting and all this kind of s**t, that’s not what you want to do … I want to take you somewhere. Make you understand the significance of what you’re doing.”
The media mogul then organized a meeting for Jamie with several famous Black actors at Quincy Jones‘ house in a bid for him to understand the seriousness of his actions.
He said, “We go in the house and there are all these old actors. Black actors from the ’60s and the ’70s, who look like they just want to say, ‘Good luck.’ They want to say, ‘Don’t blow it.'”
One of the people Jamie was introduced to was Sidney Poitier, who in 1964 became the first African-American to win an Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field.
The screen legend told him, “I want to give you responsibility … When I saw your performance, it made me grow two inches.'”
It took the brief speech for the star to break down and understand he needed to curb his partying.
He said, “To this day, it’s the most significant time in my life where it was, like, a chance to grow up.”
Jamie went on to take the Best Actor award.
