Jamie Foxx’s Real Name is What?

I think it was Timon from The Lion King who said “Oh, what’s in a name” when singing Hakuna Matata with Pumbaa upon first meeting Simba—and that couldn’t be more true for Jamie Fox right now.

While it’s not a new thing for celebrities to change part, or all, of their name in order to get ahead in the game, get an agent or cast in movies, or for whatever other reason they do it for, it can still be surprising to find out you favorite actor, singer, celebrity in general used to go by a different name.

Tom Cruise, Katy Perry, Joaquin Phoenix, and Tina Fey, to name are a few, are some celebrities who changed their names to make them more, how do I put this, normal or even “star worthy”, with each originally named: Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, Katy Hudson, Joaquin Rafael Bottom, and Elizabeth Stamatina Fey.

Well, despite revealing his real name in 2014 to David Letterman, former host of Late Night with…. and Late Show with…, Twitter has recently gone mad over the fact that Foxx’s birth name is Eric Marlon Bishop.

Some of the responses this “revelation” has garnered are:

“Yo, am I the only one who thought Jamie Foxx real name was Jamie Foxx?”– @ FunnyPicsDepot

“just found out jamie foxx’s real name is eric & now I feel like my whole life is a lie”— @AdrianD_

And “Just found out Jamie foxx isn’t his real name…. mind blown”— @Dadud3

But don’t worry if you feel as out of the loop as these people on Twitter, or me for that matter, because here is what Foxx told Letterman back in 2014 about why he changed his name:

“I used to do stand-up in a club in LA and I went up and I had a great set and when I had a great set I couldn’t get back up for six weeks because comedians ran the list,

“So I go to another place … and I noticed that like 1000 guys show up”, he continued, “and only three girls, but the three girls would always get a spot. So I went to the list and wrote down a unisex name … Jamie Foxx. And I’m the first guy called. He’d go, ‘Jamie Foxx, is she here?’ I said, ‘No brother, that’s me’.”

Well, there you go. I guess you just can’t judge a book by its cover… or name in this case.