I very rarely do blogs on celebrities' health concerns unless they affect us all but I went to the hospital at the same time I heard about Jamie Foxx's sudden "issues" and I saw myself in his health.
Whatever is going on with the 55-year-old actor/host, it was serious enough for his daughter to plead to the public for prayers. That was all that man deserved. Unfortunately, he had to deal with speculation about his health from "he's promoting a movie" to "he's dead already". We did too much talking and not enough praying and paying attention.
We live in a world now where conspiracies are a way of life and many call it the truth. We get to the point where we can now speculate about someone's condition. Jamie Foxx has several TV shows and movies just to put a lot of them on hold. Nick Cannon will be taking over Season Six of Beat Shazam as "guest host" meaning Jaime once he's well will be coming back. Social media has been the worst when it comes to his health. While there were positive well-wishers, there were many who already had the man dead or faking.
Personally, I was in the hospital with my own problems. I was in the hospital due to my foolishly not taking care of my own health. I thought about Jaime a few times. I wondered if he was in the hospital due to stress, overwork, or just ignoring his own body. That's a possibility but instead of going to social media and touting this like it's gospel, I used possible parallels to caution us, especially as men to take care of ourselves because many of us are bad at it.
A couple of weeks ago, Jamie Foxx's daughter Corinne made a statement saying he was on the mend and was out playing pickleball. This sparked the ire of many on social media. Many didn't know what pickleball was while many speculated whether he was sick in the first place. When it was reported that Foxx was at a rehab facility, some on social media started asking questions. First, pickleball is a sport like tennis, using smaller paddles and a perforated ball, or as I like to call the "softball" of tennis. Because he was playing pickleball, the question of whether he was really sick came into play. I know when I was in the hospital and stuck in bed, the first thing I could think of was writing, cutting my grass, cooking dinner, or some sort of exercise/activity.
Apparently, pickleball was something Foxx wanted to do. Again, this is only a theory because I'm not trying to speculate on the life of a person I don't know. I can again just make theoretical parallels. Finally, there are such things as outpatient rehab centers. Whatever happened to Foxx, according to his daughter, his condition requires some kind of rehabilitation. Honestly, this gripe just isn't about Jamie Foxx. This is about how we view celebrities negatively by both the news media and us on social media.
We have gotten so bad, we let bloggers and third parties let us dictate how we view celebrities. We have at least three speeds. Unless we hear from the horse's mouth such as a play-by-play of Jamie Foxx's condition, we assume we know about his condition or the worst of it. We allow third parties like pastors, rivals, bitter relatives, and more. I'm seeing too many memes and posts about Foxx saying he had a stroke among other things whereas the only source I'm listening to is his daughter's.
Beyonce worships the devil because a few pastors tell you so. I've actually seen a video of her praying before concerts. I'm tired of people who analyze pieces of video and take sound bites to get folks to see your point. During the Super Bowl, Rihanna received a lot of criticism from all angles but one thing in particular grabbed me. The triangle symbol she used during one of her numbers--the DELTA SORORITY symbol that's always mistaken for an Illuminati symbol.
My WEEKLY GRIPE is this: Quit worrying about other folks' business and mind your own. It's okay to be concerned and to even have an opinion. Don't come to me saying I told you not to express your opinion because that's false. We live in a world where we worry about our neighbor's yard while your grass needs cutting. Some of us are quick to speculate upon one another without knowing the truth but the second someone speculates about us, we're angry. We're ready to confront them, telling them "You don't know a damn thing about me" and "Keep my name out of your mouth". I'm just saying be mindful of each other.
Next: Don't discount the word celebrity. They are still human beings with high paid jobs. We tend to put them on a particular shelf because of their talent and money. Whether that shelf is positive or negative we look at them as over us and they're not. This is also why when celebrities behave badly (a lot of times criminal), many look at their talent more than the actual evidence of the crime. (For example, look at my previous R. Kelly blog).
Finally: Learn to question things you are unsure about. Even with my blogs. It not only sparks conversation and a healthy debate, it helps slow down a culture that is slowly taking away our ability to think for ourselves.