Back in the day, "living with your parents" after college was a sign that you weren't emotionally ready to face adulthood. These days, it's much more normal. Not only are both rent and home ownership expensive, but sometimes it's just nice to have your parents nearby, especially if they're in need of some extra support.
Jamie Foxx, who's on the talk show rotation to help promote his new movie, Just Mercy, has an interesting setup. Obviously, he's successful enough to make it on his own. However, he's currently living with his dad and mom, who are divorced.
One might assume that that's a fraught arrangement, especially if his parents are dating others. But as he told Graham Norton, it's "a weirdly fun household."
Curious about how it all started? A big part of their relationship actually occurred after his father was in jail. That fact was a big reason why he was so attracted to his role in Just Mercy. He's playing a wrongly convicted death row inmate named Walter McMillian. His own father was imprisoned for seven years for $25 worth of drugs.
"Doing this project is personal, being a black man and the perception of us in America is that we're guilty of a crime," he said. "They put my father in jail for $25 of illegal substance, they put him in jail for 7 years. This man was an educator in the hood, in the inner cities, educating kids. The judge — [who my father] would have come to the school to talk to the kids — presided over his case and put him in jail," he said.
The experience was tough for Jamie, who didn't know how the family would go on. "I wrote him a letter," he said. "I said, 'Hey, you know, things have gotten good for me, when you get out, I'll save your life. And he's been living with me 20 years now, same house." The gesture was kind, and it's proof that Jamie is very supportive of his family.
However, the arrangement got a little more complicated after his mom entered the picture. While hers wasn't a direct invite to stay indefinitely, Jamie seems fine with the arrangement. "I would always send her a ticket to come and visit and about 12 years ago she took me up on the offer," he said, in regards to Christmas.
But then she never seemed to leave — even with Jamie's father present. "New Year came and went, then her birthday in January and then all of a sudden it was February and she hadn't left," Jamie said. Again, a nightmare scenario for some, but something that Jamie doesn't seem to be bothered by.
The only issue? His dad still dates, which means that things might get tense in the house. It might be hard for his dates to also come to terms with the fact that he's still living with his ex-wife. It'll be interesting to learn about whether or not Jamie breaks the tension when dates come over.
"They live under the same roof and what's crazy is that he still dates, and my mother will go to his side of the house to check things out," Jamie said. Hopefully it's just to make sure her ex-husband finds someone nice to be with. No matter what, it sounds like a sitcom in the making.
It's also interesting to wonder whether or not this arrangement may be detrimental to Jamie's own dating life. For six years, he hid a rumored relationship with actress Katie Holmes. While celebrities have a right to privacy, there are a few theories as to why the two didn't want to confirm their relationship to the public.
"Katie and Jamie care about each other a lot and they tried to stay as quiet as possible because they didn't want to ruin that," a source told Us Weekly. "They knew the second they stepped out together, it would open the gates for criticism." They also reportedly wanted to keep things quiet since Tom Cruise — who may have introduced them — had a very public relationship with Katie that was all over the news.
Oddly enough, the two seemed to split not long after being more open about their pairing in public. Page Six reports that someone overheard Katie talking in public about the breakup. Jamie seemed to move on pretty quickly afterward. He's been rumored to be dating model Dana Caprio.
While Katie likely met Jamie's parents at least a few times in their six years together, it'll be interesting to see how new women handle the challenge. Going over to your boyfriend's house and meeting his parents can be very daunting when you're newly in a relationship. However, based on what Jamie said to Graham Norton, it seems like both mom and dad have separate parts of the house.
The Grio reports that Jamie's mom has been living with him for 12 years. But the outlet reports something even more interesting about their connection. While Jamie was born to Darrell Bishop and Louise Dixon, who are staying with him now, he was actually given up for adoption when he was just 7 months old.
He was actually raised by Mark Talley and Esther Marie, his grandparents who adopted and raised his mother. It took him awhile to actually reconnect emotionally with his birth parents. But when he did, he had nothing but love in his heart. Mark and Esther were very close with Jamie and always had his best interests at heart.
While they've both passed away, Jamie is still very thankful that his grandparents raised him and also helped encourage his love of music. "My grandmother was 60 years old when she adopted me," Jamie told Time back in 2004. "She ran a nursery school and had a library in the house. She saw me reading early, saw I was smart and believed I was born to achieve truly special things."
Jamie also noted that at the time, having his biological parents live close by but barely visit angered him, yet also inspired him to achieve more in life. "I was making the Dallas Morning News, and my father never came down. That's weird. Even to this day — nothing," he had said. "I don't know if it's his religion — he's a Muslim — or … I don't know. But that absence made me angry. It made me want to be something. I said, I'm going to make you look up one day and say, 'That's my son.'" It's so nice to know that these two managed to reconnect in a big way. Maybe by living together, he's making up for years of lost time.
