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Josh Duhamel defends Fergie's performance of the national anthem at NBA All-Star Game

During an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Fergie's ex, Josh Duhamel, defended her widely panned performance of the national anthem at the NBA All-Star Game.
/ Source: TODAY

They may have announced their split back in September, but Josh Duhamel is still one of Fergie's biggest supporters.

On Friday's episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Duhamel defended Fergie's widely criticized performance of the national anthem at the NBA All-Star Game.

"She's been slammed and hammered for this national anthem thing. That must be hard," said Ellen DeGeneres. "How is she doing?"

"I think she would probably admit that it was not her best work. But the girl's crazy talented, she really is. She's an amazing woman, an amazing human being, really," Duhamel said.

The 45-year-old "Unsolved" actor, who shares custody of son Axl, 4, with Fergie, continued, "It's hard to see someone you care about get beat up like that. But that's the business — you're in this business and you put yourself out there, and sometimes you win and sometimes you don't."

Fergie issued a statement on Monday in response to the criticism of her jazzy rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner": "I've always been honored and proud to perform the national anthem and last night I wanted to try something special for the NBA. I'm a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn't strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best."

DeGeneres still feels "really bad" for Fergie because of the overwhelming amount of negativity that was directed toward the singer.

"Trust me, she's fine," Duhamel reassured DeGeneres. "She is about as resilient as they come."