Jamie Foxx Defends Fight Night National Anthem: ‘Everybody Calm Down’

The much-hyped Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight fell flat, drawing complaints from many bored boxing fans.

Even Jamie Foxx got some flack for his rendition of the National Anthem which he performed before a packed house at the MGM in Las

But was it fair? And what went wrong?

WATCH: Jamie Foxx Defends Fight Night National Anthem Performance

“Well, here’s the thing with it. First of all, everybody calm down,” Jamie Foxx told Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush, in a new interview airing Wednesday on Access.

“We had a little bit of a situation with our ear pieces,” Jamie explained of his pre-fight performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” “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.”

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Following the less-than-stellar rendition, Twitter was flooded with critiques of Jamie’s performance – but the actor/musician (who is releasing his new album, “Hollywood: A Story Of A Dozen Roses” on May 18) isn’t letting the negative comments get him down.

“I think a little bit was just people wanted to have something to talk about,” he added. “But everything’s cool.”

And might there be an encore performance somewhere down the line?

“The National Anthem will be on my album,” he joked with Billy. “And I’m gonna do whatever the hell I want to.”

— Eric Anderson

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