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Jamie Foxx Defends National Anthem Performance at Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao Fight: “Everybody Calm Down”

Jamie Foxx sings the national anthem before Mayweather-Pacquiao fight
Jamie Foxx defended his buzzed-about performance of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, telling his critics to "calm down" -- watch his performance here.

Blame it on the…mic? Jamie Foxx broke his silence on Tuesday, May 5, about his performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Floyd MayweatherManny Pacquiao fight this past weekend.

Foxx's version of the National Anthem, which he sang before a sold-out crowd inside the MGM Grand Las Vegas on Saturday, May 2, was criticized as just plain awful by millions of viewers watching around the world.

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"Well, here's the thing with it," the Ray actor told Access Hollywood on Tuesday. "First of all, everybody calm down."

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He went on to explain why his version was off-key and, at times, off-beat. "We had a little bit of a situation with our earpieces," Foxx continued. "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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Foxx said he was tuning out the negative onslaught of social media commentary. "I think, a little bit was just people wanted to have something to talk about," Katie Holmes' frequent hookup told the program. "But everything's cool."

In typical Foxx fashion, the multi-hyphenate joked that listeners and fans should expect a surprise tune on his upcoming album, Hollywood: A Story of a Dozen Roses. "The National Anthem will be on my album," the face of Under Armour said. "And I'm gonna do whatever the hell I want to."

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Watch the buzzed-about performance above!

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