Jamie Foxx Defends His Mayweather vs. Pacquiao National Anthem

Jamie Foxx defended his performance of the National Anthem on two separate television shows this week.

Jamie Foxx Defends His National Anthem: “We Love America!”

Foxx, Oscar winning actor and singer, sang the Star Spangled Banner on Saturday night prior to the big fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, and viewers were quick to criticize his performance.

In the video, Foxx appeared to have some pitch problems, but one of the main complaints on Twitter was that Foxx took too many liberties with the song by adding too many runs.

On Tuesday, Foxx defended his performance during an appearance on The Ellen Show. “It was a little off,” Foxx admitted to Ellen Degeneres, explaining that his earpieces had malfunctioned and he couldn’t hear the organ accompaniment, let alone his own voice. “We still love America,” Foxx added with a smile.

Foxx expanded on the National Anthem blunder in an interview with Access Hollywood on Wednesday, saying, “We had a little bit of a situation with our earpieces. The [ear] pack actually dropped off, so I couldn’t, you know… I can’t hear what’s playing, so I just had to go on my own. Hopefully, they understand. It’s just the national anthem.”

Foxx also said that he thinks the media and critics are talking about his subpar performance just to stir up some controversy and attention, but he’s not taking any of it to heart. “Everything’s cool, and the national anthem will be on my album, and I’m gonna do whatever the hell I want to do,” he joked.