Jamie Foxx says his national anthem was ‘off’ but not ‘a sin against America’

Keep calm and listen to Jamie Foxx, because he can explain what happened when he was singing the national anthem before the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight on Saturday.

Even though it took him a while to realize that something had happened other than a little live-performance glitch he thought he’d recovered from.

“We crafted this great thing with the organ and everything,” Foxx explained on “Entertainment Tonight.” Then, right before he started to sing, the pack receiving the signal for his in-ear monitors fell off and he could no longer hear the music clearly.

“So I have to try to listen to the organ through the speakers of the stadium and try to catch what it is.”

In the stadium, he said, the performance went over standing-ovation great, with folks including Denzel Washington giving him props. However, what came through on the telecast was a whole other thing — and it was a thing he didn’t find out about until people told him the Internet was lighting up with stories about how he’d gone rogue and butchered “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

“When I listened, I said, ‘OK, we’re off,’” Foxx said. But, he continued, “I didn’t think I’d just committed a sin against America.”

The part of the uproar that stung was “when they questioned if I could sing,” he said. Yes, he promised, he knows how the national anthem goes. And he was bummed because he “wanted that to be the best moment and unfortunately it didn’t go, you know, 100% like we wanted it.”

Foxx kept it all in perspective when he was quizzed about the anthem on “Access Hollywood” as well.

“I think a little bit of it was just ... people want to have something to talk about ... but everybody’s cool, and the national anthem will be on my album,” he said, keeping it deadpan.

“And,” he joked, “I’m gonna do whatever the hell I want to it.”

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