Billy Porter made a rare comment about how he was “dead for three days” amid his battle with sepsis.
During the Monday, March 2, episode of the “Outlaws” podcast, Porter, 56, recalled being diagnosed and having to exit the Broadway production of Cabaret due to the health scare. He said he went for a “routine check” when it was discovered that a kidney stone “was trapped in [his] urethra.”
“When they got in there, there was so much puss and bile and infection behind the stone,” he shared. “It bubbled up, and I went uroseptic in minutes.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, sepsis is a condition that occurs when “the body responds improperly to an infection.” Urosepsis, meanwhile, is a type of sepsis that begins when a urinary tract infection goes untreated and travels to the kidneys.
“I was dead for three days,” Porter noted on Monday about being put on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, which is a form of life support. “I am a miracle. I’m a walking miracle.”
After he gained consciousness again, Porter was told by doctors that his leg “had gone into compartment syndrome, which is when the muscles close in on themselves and cut off the oxygen.”
“So they had to cut me open on either side of my leg while I was in a coma, and from my knee to my hip, and leave it open for two days, so they could save my leg,” he added. “I am so grateful to be here. It is such a gift.”
News broke in September 2025 that Porter had to drop out of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club due to a “serious case of sepsis,” according to a statement posted to the show’s social media accounts at the time.
“It is with a heavy heart that we have made the painful decision to end our Broadway run on Sept. 21,” producer Adam Speers said in a statement. “On behalf of all the producers, we’re so honored to have been able to bring this version of John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff’s important masterpiece, Cabaret, to New York and to have opened the doors to our own Kit Kat Club for the year and a half we have been here.”
Speers concluded: “Billy was an extraordinary Emcee, bringing his signature passion and remarkable talent. We wish Billy a speedy recovery, and I look forward to working with him again in the very near future.”
Since his health battle, Porter has been looking at life differently.
“And as I sat in my hospital bed, reflecting, there were a couple of things I heard. The first thing I heard was: Work smarter, not harder. The second thing I heard was: Be obedient and answer the call,” Porter continued on the podcast. “And the third thing I heard was: Don’t you ever stop telling the truth again. I unconsciously silenced myself for fear that I wouldn’t be on the A-list anymore.”
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