ATLANTA — Iconic actor, and comedian Chris Tucker is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his foundation with his annual celebrity golf tournament and a weekend of events in metro Atlanta.
For more than three decades, Tucker has built a career on stage and behind the camera, starring in multiple movies, performing stand-up specials and touring the country. Known for his infectious energy, improvisation, iconic dance moves, singing and rapid-fire punchlines, Tucker has made a lasting impact on comedy and film.
But through his foundation and community outreach, Tucker said he has found an even deeper sense of purpose.
“Man, it feels great, man. I got to tell you, I get so much joy out of this foundation that I started 10 years ago,” Tucker said.
The Decatur native said his mother inspired him to create the foundation after seeing him travel around the world doing humanitarian work, including in Africa.
“My mother told me to start it because I was traveling all over the world, all over Africa, doing humanitarian stuff and with delegations,” Tucker said. “And my mom said, ‘Start your own foundation and you can do more work here at home also.’”
Tucker said the annual tournament gives him a chance to bring friends to Atlanta while raising money for people in need. It also falls close to his birthday.
“I have an excuse to call all my friends and get them in town close to my birthday, too, by the way, so it’s kind of like a birthday party, too,” Tucker said.
The foundation has helped provide scholarships, heart transplants, housing, school supplies and Christmas giveaways. Tucker said it also supports homeless ministry, partners with the Boys & Girls Club and helped put a student through Morehouse with a golf scholarship.
“I get so much joy out of it, more joy than even doing movies and all that stuff because it’s just something magical, man, about helping people,” Tucker said.
That work has sometimes brought Tucker to tears.
“I don’t get emotional on a lot of stuff, but at my golf tournament, I have to speak, and I get emotional,” he said. “Then one time, I definitely started crying because it’s something, man, when you can help others.”
Tucker said he used to watch the news and wish he could do something to help people in need. Now, he has the ability to act through his foundation.
“If I get touched enough and if I talk to the board and say, ‘Can we do something about this?’ and I can do something, man, it feels so good to be able to do that, man, to change somebody’s lives,” he said.
This year’s weekend includes Tucker’s celebrity golf tournament on Monday at Eagles Landing Country Club in Stockbridge.
Tucker is also hosting a comedy show Saturday at VyStar Amphitheater at The Bridge in Stockbridge. He plans to bring friends from comedy and music to the stage, along with performers he has personally selected as “Rising Stars.”
“I got the Rising Stars, people who I think will be the next big thing who I feel like have that energy like I had when I first came out and who have that spark and have a lot of potential,” Tucker said.
Tucker will host and perform during the show, with proceeds going to charity.
“I do a lot of shows across the country, across the world that I get paid for, but this one, I’m doing it all for charity and it’s going to help people,” he said.
He is also keeping some of the weekend’s biggest guests a surprise.
“I have a lot of surprises, which I can’t mention,” Tucker said. “They’re so big, I can’t mention their names because they come here and get a lot of money, and they’re doing this for me for free, for charity.”
The youngest of six children, Tucker said his older siblings helped shape his career and introduced him to the comedians who inspired him.
“I watched Eddie Murphy when he first came out, and Richard Pryor at a young age,” Tucker said. “So I saw the greats, Red Fox and Bill Cosby, The Cosby Show. I saw all the greats, man, and that really molded me into what I wanted to do.”
Tucker said he is grateful he discovered his passion early in life.
“Thank God I found my passion early in life with the stand-up comedy and then off to the movies, so it was great,” he said.
That connection to his comedy career recently came full circle when Tucker’s son, Destin, appeared alongside Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Jr. in a “Friday” tribute for the Los Angeles Rams 2026 NFL draft party.
“Man, it was the greatest thing ever, man,” Tucker said. “We were able to rehearse, and it wasn’t much rehearsal because he already had it down pat.”
Tucker said he was proud to see his son participate and grateful that the performance honored movie and music icon Ice Cube.
For fans hoping to see Tucker return to the big screen in another “Friday” or “Rush Hour,” he said conversations are happening.
“We’re looking at everything, and we are talking about another Rush Hour, another Friday. So hopefully it can come together, and we’ll see what happens because it’d be fun if it can come together.”
For more information about the Chris Tucker Foundation, including ways to support its work or volunteer, visit ChrisTuckerFoundation.org.