After Jamie Foxx Gave A Heartfelt Speech At The BET Awards, LeBron James Sent Him Some Love

LeBron James gives a postgame interview on ESPN, and Jamie Foxx accepts the Ultimate Icon award at the 2025 BET Awards.
(Image credit: ESPN/BET)

Monday was a big night for many celebs, as the 25th BET Awards aired on the 2025 TV schedule, with artists like Kendrick Lamar, SZA and Doechii walking away with some of the night’s top honors. One of the highlights, however, was Jamie Foxx’s emotional speech when he received the Ultimate Icon Award and, afterward, he got some love from the king himself — LeBron James.

Jamie Foxx brought his daughters and sister (and several members of the crowd, no doubt) to tears with a hilarious but humbling speech that recalled his near-fatal 2023 stroke. Many in the audience at the Los Angeles awards show were on their feet for the duration of the 10-minute speech. And, if the trophy wasn't enough to validate Foxx’s title as an icon, this X post from one of the NBA’s greatest of all time certainly was, as LeBron James tagged him and wrote:

BET ‘ULTIMATE ICON’!! Love my brother and CONGRATULATIONS!!!! 🙏🏾🤎💪🏾

Jamie Foxx has voiced his respect for LeBron James on many occasions, and while the multihyphenate may boast an Oscar, a Grammy and a Golden Globe amongst his achievements, it’s still got to feel good to get shouted out by a man with four NBA championships. That’s especially true since this BET honor clearly meant so much to him and came at such a huge turning point in his life.

In addition to the Ray star, Mariah Carey, Kirk Franklin and Snoop Dogg also received Ultimate Icon awards, which recognize “decades of groundbreaking contributions to music, entertainment, advocacy, and community impact.” Stevie Wonder presented Jamie Foxx with the honor, and his acceptance speech is worth the watch:

Jamie Foxx Receives Ultimate Icon for His Impact on Music, Film & Culture | BET Awards - YouTube Jamie Foxx Receives Ultimate Icon for His Impact on Music, Film & Culture | BET Awards - YouTube
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If you managed to remain dry-eyed through that, let's just say I have concerns. Jamie Foxx gave love to his sister and daughters, commending them for how they supported him through his medical issues, and he spoke about how he’s turned his life around to embrace the second chance God gave him. He said:

I gotta be honest — when I saw the In Memoriam, I was like, ‘Man, that could have been me.’ But I don't know why I went through what I went through, but I know my second chance I'm not going turn down. I'm not going to turn down, I have so much love to give. I told him, ‘Bro, just give me one more crack at this.’

The tribute to Jamie Foxx also included a musical number featuring artists including Babyface, Ludacris, Doug E. Fresh, Teddy Riley, T-Pain and Jennifer Hudson. Needless to say, the BET Awards went all out to pay tribute to one of the most enduring entertainers of our time.

In 2023 the now-57-year-old actor was hospitalized for an undisclosed medical issue, which was later revealed to be a stroke caused by a brain bleed. He has since recovered, returning to our screens on the 2025 movie calendar in projects like the fittingly titled Back in Action (available to stream with a Netflix subscription).

Heidi Venable
Content Producer

Heidi Venable is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend, a mom of two and a hard-core '90s kid. She started freelancing for CinemaBlend in 2020 and officially came on board in 2021. Her job entails writing news stories and TV reactions from some of her favorite prime-time shows like Grey's Anatomy and The Bachelor. She graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in Journalism and worked in the newspaper industry for almost two decades in multiple roles including Sports Editor, Page Designer and Online Editor. Unprovoked, will quote Friends in any situation. Thrives on New Orleans Saints football, The West Wing and taco trucks.

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