Anthony “Gilbert” Po is a bit in shock. That’s what the content creator turned event organizer tells me moments before his first-annual Timothée Chalamet Look Alike Contest is about to start. Over the last month, Po put up around 50 paper signs around West Village advertising the contest—and now more than 100 faux Chalamets and their entourages are mobbing Washington Square Park.
“The event started out as a joke,” Po says. “To me, it will be until the very end. But I have friends working on the movie set he’s shooting in SoHo right now. He was talking about the competition. He knows it’s happening. But I’m not sure if this is the safest place for him to just show up.”
Before Po, who actually resembles the actor we’ve all gathered to celebrate, can hop onto his antique bicycle and get the event started, the New York City cops show up. The crowd starts to grumble. “I wasn’t expecting Timothée to be here, but I wanted to see some hot look-alikes,” says Lola Wayne Villa, a student who found out about the event through the posters. As the cops start to issue citations (but before they start arresting people), Po cycles by like a top-hatted pied piper and the Chalamets follow. Apparently, he doesn’t know the fuzz has arrived.
Once organized in a circle, Po explains the very scientific rules: The crowd will be presented with each Chalamet, and the one with the loudest cheers will be crowned king, winning a six-foot trophy and a giant check for $50.
There are a lot of off-duty Chalamets, a handful clad in all black like his Dune character (and screaming, “I am the voice from the outer world! I will lead you to paradise!”), a solitary wigged Bob Dylan, and one very spirited Willy Wonka carrying a suitcase to complete his look. The actor’s appeal surpasses the human species, and there’s both a corgi and a pug here to compete.
“I don’t like big crowds,” says Kyle, dressed in a black sweater and skinny scarf, as his curls fall into his brown eyes. “But my parents read about this in the newspaper and really wanted me to do this. People have filmed me before at the airport thinking I was Timothée.”
The cops finally squeeze through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd to deliver the shutdown message: Washington Square Park’s board has issued a cease-and-desist order. We’re moving to a nearby park. Along the way, Dylan Chalamet is stopped a handful of times, including by an enterprising blonde handing out cards with a headshot and her Instagram handle to the look-alikes.
Now at location two, Po stops the judging to start auctioning off the single Chalamets. If you can’t get the real one, a finalist in the look-alike competition may just be the next best thing. Two walk away with dates, but one confesses he lives in Arkansas—and the crowd begins to boo.
Back on track, the final three Chalamets answer a few questions in character: Which Marvel character would you play? What can you say in French? But it’s Willy Wonka’s suitcase reveal—it’s filled with candy! He’s throwing it out into the crowd!—that wins him the honor of eardrum-shattering screams and the trophy. Apparently, we’re not above bribery.
While Wonka (real name: Miles Mitchell) soaks up his day in the Chalamet sun, Po shares the biggest surprise of the day: An unrepresented Chalamet appeared at Washington Square Park after the event moved locations—the real one. Not only did Timothée Chalamet know about the event, but he braved the masses too. Hold onto that trophy, Mitchell.
Everyone knows the saying “You can’t go home again.” I hope that’s not the case with the Delano Hotel that made Miami Beach so famous. We just got word that the hotel should be open again in late 2025. I’m not sure the new updated Delano will have the same glory it had when it was renovated by Ian Schrager, former co-founder of Studio 54 and designer Philippe Starck in 1995. Schrager and Starck wanted Delano to feel like a home; to that end, Starck created a series of discrete “living spaces,” with mismatched furniture.
The entire hotel felt like you were walking into the future. It was hidden behind a tall row of hedges right on Collins and 17th Street. The Delano’s backyard and pool were an extension of the lobby’s “living room,” and that’s why a table and two chairs sat in a shallow section of the pool, and why the hotel’s veranda featured the kind of comfortable furniture usually found inside a building, rather than outside it. In the rooms, guests had oversized marble bathtubs, said to be a favorite among NBA players because of their seven-foot length, along with Malin + Goetz toiletries.
The place was simply gorgeous and it attracted a steady stream of celebrities that frequently hung out at the pool. I read about Delano in WWD and desperately wanted to vacation there. We used to fly down from Manhattan for long weekends, school breaks and special occasions. If we got lucky, we got to see Madonna, Calvin Klein, Barry Diller, Cher, Don Johnson, and a host of sports figures. Every guest felt so special while in residence. There was something about the vibe that just put everyone in a good mood.
After a few years of staying at the hotel we decided to rent an apartment nearby because it was way less expensive. We just loved being a part of the South Beach crowd. The Delano closed its doors during the pandemic, leaving so many loyal guests and design lovers heartbroken. Now, under the direction of Ennismore and Cain International, the Delano is set to reemerge with a fresh vision while honoring its storied past. The revitalized property will feature 171 redesigned rooms, upgraded wellness spaces, and new dining concepts, all tied together by a lighter, earthy aesthetic.
All I can say is that I hope the Delano has a great restaurant so we can visit the establishment often. Just thinking about it gives me the chills. I want to get that special feeling again 25 years later.
We all know that our smartphones track us, but do we really know to what extent? Ronan Farrow does. After becoming the target of cyber-surveillance while reporting on Harvey Weinstein, the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist—and son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen—took matters into his own hands. He began investigating the billion-dollar commercial-spyware industry, traveling to Tel Aviv, Barcelona, and New York to understand how our phones are monitored. Turns out, it’s worse than we thought.
In Surveilled, Farrow uncovers how companies such as NSO Group operate with minimal oversight, selling spyware capable of hacking and controlling the devices of 450 million people (think activists, reporters, and politicians) without their knowledge. Directed by Perri Peltz and Matthew O’Neill, the documentary unveils the secrets, dangers, and staggering scale of the covert world behind our screens. —Jeanne Malle
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Happy Holidays
No matter what you’re celebrating, we’re celebrating with you.
A new study by University of Miami researchers shows a string of beachside high rises in Sunny Isles, the skyline shown here, along with Bal Harbour, Surfside and Miami beach have been sinking into the ground at unexpected rates. Experts say it could be a sign of rising sea levels accelerating the erosion of limestone bedrock under the barrier islands.
MATIAS J. OCNER mocner@miamiherald.com
Dozens of luxury beachfront condos and hotels in Surfside, Bal Harbour, Miami Beach and Sunny Isles are sinking into the ground at rates that were “unexpected,” with nearly 70 percent of the buildings in northern and central Sunny Isles affected, research by the University of Miami found.
The study, published Friday night, identified a total of 35 buildings that have sunk by as much as three inches between 2016 and 2023, including the iconic Surf Club Towers and Faena Hotel, the Porsche Design Tower, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Trump Tower III and Trump International Beach Resorts. Together, the high rises accommodate tens of thousands of residents and tourists. Some have more than 300 units, including penthouses that cost millions of dollars.
“Almost all the buildings at the coast itself, they’re subsiding,” Falk Amelung, a geophysicist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science and the study’s senior author, told the Miami Herald. “It’s a lot.”
Preliminary data also shows signs that buildings in downtown Miami, Brickell, and along Broward and Palm Beach coasts are sinking, too.
Globally, similar subsidence within such a large area has never been reported, the university said in a statement.
Experts called the study a “game changer” that raises a host of questions about development on vulnerable barrier islands. For starters, experts said, this could be a sign that rising sea levels, caused by the continued emission of greenhouse gases, is accelerating the erosion of the limestone on which South Florida is built. “It’s probably a much larger problem than we know,”
Paul Chinowsky, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, told the Herald. Initially, researchers looked at satellite images that can measure fractions of an inch of subsidence to determine whether the phenomenon had occurred leading up to the collapse of Champlain Towers in Surfside, the 2021 catastrophe that killed 98 people and led to laws calling for structural reviews of older condos across the state.
The researchers did not see any signs of settlement before the collapse “indicating that settlement was not the cause of collapse,” according to a statement. Instead, they saw subsidence at nearby beachside buildings both north and south of it. Surprising findings “What was surprising is that it was there at all. So we didn’t believe it at the beginning,” Amelung said, explaining that his team checked several sources that confirmed the initial data. “And then we thought, we have to investigate it,” he said. In total, they found subsidence ranging between roughly 0.8 and just over 3 inches, mostly in Sunny Isles Beach, Surfside, and at two buildings in Miami Beach – the Faena Hotel and L’atelier condo – and one in Bal Harbour.
It’s unclear what the implications are or whether the slow sinking could lead to long-term damage, but several experts told the Herald that the study raises questions that require further research as well as a thorough on-site inspection. “These findings raise additional question which require further investigation,” Gregor Eberli, a geoscience professor and co-author of the study, which was published Friday in the journal Earth and Space Science, said in a statement. Lead author Farzaneh Aziz Zanjani pointed to the need for “ongoing monitoring and a deeper understanding of the long-term implications for these structures.” Though the vast majority of affected buildings were constructed years or decades before the satellite images were taken, it is common for buildings to subside a handful of inches during and shortly after construction — a natural effect as the weight of the building compresses the soil underneath.
And sinking doesn’t necessarily create structural issues. “As long as it’s even, everything’s fine,” Chinowsky said, placing his hands next to each other, “the problems start when you start doing this,” he said, then moving one hand down faster than the other. But such uneven sinking, known as differential subsidence, can cause significant damage to buildings, he said. “That’s where you can get structural damage,” he said. More research is needed to determine whether the buildings are sinking evenly or not. An uncertain impact “Sometimes it can be dangerous, sometimes not – it will have to be evaluated,” said Shimon Wdowinski, a geophysicist at Florida International University, told the Herald.
Wdowinski worked on a different study that showed that the land surrounding the Champlain Towers – not the buildings themselves – had been subsiding back in the nineties, though that alone couldn’t have led to the collapse. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has yet to release a final report on the cause but a Herald investigation pointed to design and construction flaws as well as decades of maintenance issues.
High-rise building dominate the skyline of the coast of Miami-Dade County, from Sunny Isles Beach down to Miami Beach. A new study by University of Miami researchers shows at least 35 buildings in the stretch have sunk by as much as three inches between 2016 and 2023. For the 35 buildings shown to be sinking in the University of Miami’s study, he said, the next step is to check the integrity and design plans. “If there is differential subsidence, it could cause structural damage, and it would need immediate attention,” he said. Cracks in walls, utilities that are breaking, or doors and windows that don’t shut as easily as they used to are all signs of differential subsidence, said Gangarao Hota, a professor of civil engineering and the director of the constructor facilities center at West Virginia University. “In some extreme scenarios, the buildings at some point sink much more dramatically with time,” he said. If that subsidence is differential, “then it is very, very serious,” Hota said.
Cities react to study Larisa Svechin, the mayor of Sunny Isles Beach, where more than 20 buildings are affected, said that “my priority is the safety of our residents.” Contacted by the Herald Saturday afternoon, she said she was not aware of any structural issues but called an immediate meeting with the city manager. Following that meeting, she said that all required building inspections are up to date and that “the law also requires inspection records to be posted online and shared with residents.”
Charles Burkett, the mayor of Surfside, told the Miami Herald that he had not heard of the study nor was he aware of any subsidence of buildings. “I’d like to know if it’s unsafe,” he said on Saturday, adding that he will “review [the study] in due time.” Other officials could not be reached immediately, and several of the affected buildings contacted by the Herald said that management would not be available for comment before Monday.
Some settlement appears to have started right around the time when the construction of new buildings nearby began, and when vibration might have caused layers of sand to compress further – just like shaking ground coffee in a tin will make room for more. The pumping of groundwater that seeps into construction sites could also cause sand layers to shift and rearrange. Though there appears to be a strong link to nearby construction for some buildings, it is unlikely to be the only explanation for the 35 sinking buildings, as some settlement had started before any construction began nearby, and it persisted after construction ended, the researchers found.
“There’s no sign that it’s stopping,” Amelung said of the settlement. The possible climate connection Experts also pointed to the impact the emission of fossil fuels and the resulting warming of the climate is having on the overall stability of Miami-Dade’s barrier islands. For one, rising sea levels are now encroaching on sand and limestone underneath our feet. That could lead to the corrosion of the pillars on which high-rises stand – a serious issue, Hota said, though if that’s the case “there may be a way to salvage these buildings,” by fixing the foundation. Stronger waves, fresh water dumped by heavier rainfalls and more sunny-day flooding could also add to the erosion of the limestone that all of South Florida is built on, Chinowsky said.
Already a soft rock that is riddled with holes and air pockets, further erosion could destabilize the base of most constructions, Chinowsky said, comparing it to “standing on sand, and someone came with a spoon and started taking the sand out.” “I would expect that they would see this all throughout the barrier islands and on into the main coastline – wherever there is limestone, basically,” he said.
“That’s what makes the whole South Florida area so unique, because of that porous rock, the limestone, all that action is happening where you can’t see it, and that’s why it’s never accounted for to this level,” he said. This climate report is funded by Florida International University, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the David and Christina Martin Family Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners.
The Miami Herald retains editorial control of all content. If you have questions for the climate team, please email climate@miamiherald.com University of Miami researchers say sea rise may be contributing to unexpected subsidence of buildings from Sunny Isles to Miami Beach. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Everyone has a dirty secret. Mine is that I tried Mounjaro. I know, don’t. Maybe I should have written this under a pseudonym. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I’m not fat.
But as a fully paid-up member of the Y.C.N.B.T.R.T.T.O.T.T. (You Can Never Be Too Rich, Too Thin, or Too Tanned) generation with a doctorate in dieting, I was too curious to resist. What would it be like to rid myself of the low-level hunger and guilt that was, previously, my permanent state? What would it be like to be content with the way I looked in a bikini? And so for six weeks this past summer, without telling my partner, I went on the shot.
Scroll forward to today, and I am empirically, incontrovertibly, even by my own antediluvian standards, “thin.” From any angle in any changing room, however badly lit, my butt looks absolutely fine. No item of clothing in my wardrobe is remotely tight. My underwear doesn’t mysteriously shrink and get all “friendly” in the wash.
I have changed my constitution, and though the physical difference is quite subtle, because I carried most of my weight around my middle, the psychological effect has been huge. Mostly in a good way, but not 100 percent. Now that I’m not a professional dieter anymore, I can’t help feeling unemployed.
Don’t get me wrong: I’ve become evangelical about this drug. It’s a revelation not to be such a Labrador around food. (I continue to use it, taking half the lowest dose—2.5 mg.—every other week to remain, well, more of a cat.)
What a joy it is to have become one of those people who can eat just one M&M and leave food on my plate. For me, after all these years, the bread basket is finally neutral territory.
Given how fraught the issue of weight is for so many people, it wouldn’t surprise me if the public-health authorities eventually put Mounjaro in the water. (Well, maybe not if R.F.K. Jr. is in charge of Health and Human Services.)
Just wait until Eli Lilly brings out retatrutide, a new triple-action drug that is said to shed fat, lower blood sugar, improve one’s lipid profile, and even decrease cardiovascular risk. It’s supposedly even more effective, and comes with fewer side effects, than Mounjaro, which can cause nausea and gastrointestinal issues. By the end of the century, obesity and alcoholism may all but cease to exist.
And yet.
I can’t shake off this vague air of meh-ness. As we know, nature abhors a vacuum, and all this energy I devoted over the decades to the pursuit of “thinness” needs a new place to roost.
Longing, wanting, working toward something is part of the human condition. I liken the sensation to the flatness I felt as a kid after tearing open all my Christmas presents at dawn. (The Swedes got it right, making it all about Christmas Eve.)
To paraphrase Marc Lewis, the cognitive neuroscientist, addiction expert, and author of the best-seller The Biology of Desire, we are wired less for pleasure than for desire. “Once the food is in your mouth, there’s really nothing more you have to do to improve your odds of survival and procreation,” he writes.
There have not been many conclusive clinical studies of the effect of GLP-1 drugs like Mounjaro on sex drive, but if you scroll through Reddit—guilty—you’ll see that there are swathes of users who not only abstain from food and drink but also the pursuit of pleasure. (My personal experience? I don’t know you well enough yet.) Draw your own conclusions, but maybe we need to fear Mounjaro more than artificial intelligence in terms of the end of the line for humanity.
So where do we go from here? I have no plans to end my drug use right before the holiday season. What joy it will be to wake up on New Year’s Day without feeling like a giant, guilty tick.
On the other hand, since food no longer has the power to arouse me as it once did, Christmas (which has always been about the eating for me) has kind of lost its allure. Stollen? So what. Mince pies slathered in homemade brandy butter? Same. Thanks to Mounjaro, it seems that I may have already opened most of my presents.
Christa D’Souza is a London-based writer who contributes to the Daily Mail and The Sunday Times
Eliot and I walked around Art Basel and some of the other art fairs last week (Untitled, Design Miami, Art Miami and Scope) thinking that the exhibitors were going to be somewhat disappointed with their sales results this year. We saw some of the galleries that we know fairly active while others admitted that they lost money exhibiting.
I was stunned when I read Artsy a few days ago which reported, that there was a healthy number of galleries who sold paintings in the millions. Artsy is a newsletter about the world’s emerging and established artists. They make it easy for new and experienced collectors to discover, buy, and sell art. Everything you’ll ever need to collect art, you’ll find on Artsy
I am giving you the list of activities from Artsy because it’s a good one to reference for your own interest and also to have when talking to others about the artists that did well this year. You will sure to impress others.
Art Basel registered more than 75,000 visitors this year, down from last year’s reported attendance figure of 79,000).
There were 286 galleries from 28 countries—up from last year’s 277—and included 34 first-time exhibitors, the largest batch of newcomers in over a decade. South and Central America had a strong showing, with 19 galleries from Brazil alone.
Leading the reported sales was Hauser & Wirth, which sold David Hammons’s Untitled (2014) for $4.75 million during the VIP preview on Wednesday.
Martha Jungwirth’s Ohne Titel, aus der Serie “Francisco de Goya, Stillleben mit Rippen und Lammkopf” (2022) for €430,000 ($454,000), Ohne Titel, aus der Serie “Australidelphia” (2020) for €420,000 ($444,000), and Ohne Titel (2022) for €310,000 ($327,000).
Daniel Richter’s Mausefalle des Gewissens (2023) for €420,000 ($443,000).
David Salle’s New Pastoral, Floral Dress (2024) for $350,000.
Tom Sachs’s Portrait de Dora Maar(2024) for $190,000.
Other works by Jungwirth, Longo, Joan Snyder, and Erwin Wurm sold for five-figure sums.
David Hammons
Rock Head, 2000
White Cube
Ilana Savdie
Revenge Fantasies, 2024
White Cube
White Cube’s reported sales were led by David Hammons’s Rock Head(2000) for $2.35 million.
Pace Gallery’s reported sales were led by Sam Gilliam’s Whispering Wind(1972), which sold for $1 million. Other sales reported by the gallery included:
Almine Rech’s sales were led by a work by Tom Wesselmann, which sold for a price in the range of $1.25 million–$1.5 million. Other sales reported by the gallery included:
A work by Larry Poons for a price in the range of $180,000–$200,000.
Sprüth Magers’s reported sales were led by Richard Artschwager’s Exclamation Point (Yellow) (2001) for $425,000. Other sales reported by the gallery included:
Galerie Lelong & Co.’s sales were led by Mildred Thompson’s Radiation Explorations (1994) for “approximately” $275,000. Other sales reported by the gallery included:
Cardi Gallery’s sales were led byRoberto Matta’s Ecce Fumo (1973) for $290,000 and Carla Accardi’s Omaggio a Matisse (1964) for €140,000 ($148,000). The gallery also sold a trio of works by Davide Balliano for €50,000, €40,000, and €30,000, respectively ($52,800, $42,200, and $31,000).
RYAN LEE sold Herbert Gentry’s Le Jardin (1960) for $145,000 and two additional works by the artist for $22,000 and $18,000 apiece.
Templon’s sales were led by two Omar Ba works which each sold for $40,000–$120,000 apiece. The gallery also sold two works by ROBIN KID A.K.A. THE KID for $35,000–$100,000, and five works by Chiharu Shiota for €16,000–€120,000 ($16,900–$126,000) each
Goodman Gallery sold “several” William Kentridge works for prices ranging from $30,000–$550,000. The gallery also sold a work by Carrie Mae Weems for $180,000 and works by Yinka Shonibare for prices ranging from £150,000–£225,000 ($191,00–$287,000). Other sales included “several” works by Kapwani Kiwanga for prices ranging from €60,000–€115,000 ($63,000–$121,000).
Gavlak’s sales were led by two “historical” works by Judy Chicagofor a combined total of $150,000 and a Cecily Brown monotype for $125,000. The gallery also sold a painting by Robert Peterson, two paintings by Kris Knight, and a new work on paper by Jose Alvarez for five-figure sums.
Michael Kohn Gallery’s sales were led by Lita Albuquerque’s She has shifted scales on the planet, so can we see (2021) for $125,000 and Nir Hod’s 100 Years is Not Enough(2024) for $90,000. The gallery also sold works by Hod, Mark Innerst, and William Brickel for five-figure sums.
Richard Saltoun reported the sale of four works by Greta Schödl for prices ranging from $5,000–$25,000 apiece. Charles Moffett—another of Artsy’s best booths from the fair—sold four sculptures by Kim Dacresfor $7,000–$35,000 each and four works by Melissa Joseph for $10,000–$20,000 each
The reason I am posting this story from Variety is because Jamie Foxx hosted a party for my client HandL in Las Vegas during the 2019 CES. It was the most outrageous party ever. Jamie went all out for HandL owner Allen Hirsch. Jamie acted like a DJ at a wedding all night long singing and dancing with everyone.
We couldn’t believe our eyes that a major celeb like Jamie would give so much of himself to the crowds that showed up that night.
Just ask writer/singer extraordinaire Dan Rosenbaum. Dan sang several songs with Jamie and we were all in disbelief that this was happening. Client Allen Hirsch, owner of HandL, had record breaking sales that CES and the brand is still a favorite among consumers everywhere.
Everyone wishes Jamie a long, healthy life. Thank you Jamie. Now read his amazing story in Variety.
In his new Netflix comedy special “What Had Happened Was,” Jamie Foxx finally told the story behind the mysterious and harrowing medical emergency that left him hospitalized and fighting for his life in 2023.
Emerging on stage and proclaiming “I’m back!” as he danced and hyped up the crowd, Foxx said his life was saved just 400 yards from the Atlanta theater, at Piedmont Hospital. The Oscar and Grammy winner held back tears as he discussed his “mystery illness,” saying, “Please, Lord, let me get through this.”
“April 11, I was having a bad headache, and I asked my boy for Aspirin. I realized quickly that when you’re in a medical emergency, your boys don’t know what the fuck to do,” Foxx joked.
He said before he could even take the Aspirin, he blacked out and remained unconscious for weeks. “I don’t remember 20 days,” Foxx said. He was told that his friends took him to a doctor in Atlanta who gave him a cortisone shot and sent him on his way. “What the fuck is that?” Foxx quipped. “I don’t know if you can do Yelps for doctors, but that’s half a star.
His sister Deidra Dixon, who he described as “4-foot-11 of nothing but pure love,” knew that Foxx was experiencing something much more severe. “She says, ‘Get him in the car. That ain’t my brother right there,’” Foxx said.
“She drove around — she didn’t know anything about Piedmont Hospital, but she had a hunch that some angels [were] in there.”At Piedmont, a doctor told Dixon that Foxx was “having a brain bleed that has led to a stroke,” and that if they didn’t operate on him as soon as possible he would die. “My sister knelt down outside the operating room and prayed the whole time,” Foxx said.
He said it “was kind of oddly peaceful” being unconscious, adding, “I saw the tunnel. I didn’t see the light.” Foxx then joked, “It was hot in that tunnel. Shit, am I going to the wrong place in this motherfucker? Because I looked at the end of the tunnel, and I thought I saw the Devil like, ‘C’mon.’ Or is that Puffy [Sean Combs]?”
After the procedure, the doctor told Dixon that Foxx “may be able to make a full recovery, but it’s going to be the worst year of his life.” Foxx concurred: “That’s what it was.” As he entered his recovery process, Foxx said Dixon and his daughter Corinne Marie Foxx “cut it all off” and shielded Foxx from the outside world. “They didn’t want you to see me like that. And I didn’t want you to see me like that,” Foxx said, choking up. “I want you to see me like this.”
When he fully woke up, at a Chicago rehabilitation center on May 4, Foxx didn’t understand why he found himself in a wheelchair. And despite what he was being told, he could not wrap his head around the fact that he had a stroke. He told the audience about his long road to recovery and the reluctance to being bathed by a nurse — before she told him she had already been bathing him for weeks, he just couldn’t remember. “I couldn’t wipe my own ass,” Foxx said.
“I lost everything, but the only thing I could hold onto was my sense of humor,” Foxx said, before repeating a mantra of the comedy special: “If I could stay funny, I could stay alive.”
The comedian then cycled through celebrity impressions, including Denzel Washington, Dave Chappelle, Mike Tyson, Jay-Z and Donald Trump.
He said during the first 15 days of his hospitalization, the doctors thought he would die because his vitals were too high, and he needed to be kept calm. “You know what [is] the worst thing to have when you’re trying to stay calm in the hospital room? Black family members,” Foxx joked before imitating his panicked kin.
Foxx said he didn’t want his youngest daughter, 14-year-old Anelise Bishop to see him in that state. Nonetheless, she snuck into his hospital room with her guitar and started playing music, causing Foxx’s vitals to go down.
“It was God in that guitar,” Foxx said, calling the incident a “miracle.” “That’s my spiritual defibrillator.”
Bishop then walked on stage donning a Rickenbacker electric guitar for a father-daughter duet that had the audience (and Foxx and Bishop) wiping away tears.
“You had to make it because I always dreamed we would perform together on stage one day,” Bishop said.
Elsewhere in the special, Foxx discussed the internet conspiracy theories surrounding his medical emergencies (“Y’all motherfuckers really thought I was a clone”) and his spirituality (“God gave me a second chance”).
Foxx also showed a brief highlight reel of his most iconic characters and led the theater in dance and a singalong. The “Ray” and “Dreamgirls” star sat down at the piano to perform a gospel number and a rollicking song about why he’s done dating white women.
Ending things on a sweet note, Foxx offered his sincere thanks to everybody who prayed for his recovery, to his nurses and doctors, to his family, to God and to the city of Atlanta. As he shook the hands of the audience members in the front row, Foxx sang, “Thank you for my body. Thank you for my soul.”
DigiDame 