In an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday, Jamie Foxx commented on the backlash following his rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Saturday night’s fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas.
“That night my inner ears pack falls off just before I’m supposed to sing,” Foxx told ET. “So I had to try to listen to the organ through the speakers of the stadium and try to catch what it is.”
Following Foxx’s performance, Twitter quickly blew up with criticism of the 47-year-old actor/singer.
What's Jamie Fox singing? It sounds familiar but I can't place it.
— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) May 3, 2015
Hey how come no one arrests Jamie Foxx for his anthem?
— martin nievera (@4eversinging4u) May 3, 2015
When you hear Jamie Foxx sing the National Anthem pic.twitter.com/EDHRnCRem7
— Eli Braden (@EliBraden) May 3, 2015
At least Jamie Foxx prepared us for the forthcoming disappointment.
— ️Sprog Socket (@Kvetter81) May 3, 2015But Foxx said that inside the arena “you would have thought I was getting a standing ovation.”
“Then…somebody told me about the internet [backlash] and said, ‘Oh, people are clowning you.’ When I listened I said, ‘Oh yeah, we’re off.’”
It sounds like Foxx is looking forward to redeeming himself.
“I wanted that to be the best moment and, unfortunately, it didn’t go 100% like we wanted,” he said. “But we’ll get another crack at it.”
Decide for yourself how Foxx did. Listen to his rendition of the national anthem below.
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