Fox Entertainment’s upfront presentation to advertisers was a star-studded affair that began with Jamie Foxx mocking Elon Musk and President Donald Trump and ended with Joel McHale popping a bottle of champagne with a prop knife in Gordon Ramsay’s honor.
And at one point in between, Tom Brady flubbed a stunt pass to Rob Gronkowski so bad the ball landed among the Madison Avenue execs.
Held at the Manhattan Center in New York Monday, the event showcasing Fox broadcast network’s 2025-2026 schedule — as well as programming across ad-supported streamer Tubi, Fox Sports and Fox News — kicked off with some jokes from “Beat Shazam” host Foxx.
“It’s been a hectic few weeks for me,” the actor said. “But truly I wanted to be here. Thank you so much. I wanted to be here, because I’ve been busy. I’ve been busier than Elon Musk on Mother’s Day,” Foxx said to laughter, adding his own self-approval: “That’s a good one.”
Foxx then went into his impression of Trump praising Musk: “I like Elon. He’s a great guy. I like Elon. I love the Teslers.”
Frank Micelotta/FOX
Frank Micelotta/Fox
On a slightly more serious note, Foxx continued: “I may be an actor, and you may be all amazing ad executives, but we all grew up with the same dream: to one day spend an afternoon at TV upfronts. I love being part of the Fox family. I love it more than old white people playing pickleball. Hold for laughter. I just signed a multi-year deal with Fox. After my health emergency, they wanted to make it a multi-week deal. Fox invested in me, and Fox is a great place for all of you to invest.”
Later in the presentation, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Annie Murphy, Elizabeth Hurley and Josh Gad took the stage to promote their new adult animated series at Tubi, “Breaking Bear.”
“Who had criminal cartoon bars on their upfront bingo card this year?” Fraser asked the crowd.
“I mean, it makes sense,” Gellar chimed in. “Fox has a legendary legacy in adult animation. Honestly, why wasn’t this on your bingo card?” The “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” alum said the cast is “thrilled to continue that legacy” with what they promise is a “totally unhinged story.”
When Fox Sports staple Michael Strahan came out to tout Fox’s rights to the Indianapolis 500, he brought out IndyCar team owner David Letterman and his beard to wow the crowd. Things got physical when Letterman reminded Strahan of a time he had interviewed Strahan.
“You asked me to teach you how to tackle, and I actually picked you up,” Strahan said.
“Well forget the tackle part, I’ve been looking forward to you picking me up ever since,” Letterman said, before Strahan hoisted him into the air to applause.
After that, Letterman teased the crowd: “Is this where you want to be on the nicest day in a decade? Would you rather be anywhere else than here, ladies and gentleman?”
Among the other top Fox talent that made appearances at the upfront were Jon Hamm, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, Rob Lowe, Jane Lynch, Harris Faulkner, Jay Pharoah, Denis Leary, Rob Gronkowski, Josh Charles, Derek Jeter, Molly Parker, Noah Beck and Siena Agudong, as well as Fox News’ Martha MacCallum, Jacqui Heinrich, Bill Melugin and Trey Yings.