Piers Morgan has issued an apology to Beyoncé and Jay-Z after airing allegations about the couple on his YouTube series Uncensored.
Last week, American musician Jaguar Wright was a guest on Uncensored. Wright was brought on the show to discuss the multiple sexual assault allegations made against rapper and producer Sean “Diddy” Combs. For years, Wright has been an outspoken voice against Combs and his infamous parties, but in 2022, she made headlines for calling him out on social media for his alleged abuse, years before he finally faced legal charges.
During the interview, Wright not only spoke on Combs’ allegations but also referred to Jay-Z whom she used to work as a backing singer for in the early 2000s. Wright referred to him as a “monster” and made allegations against Jay-Z and Beyoncé, claiming that they were a “nasty little couple” who had links with Combs and “hundreds” of victims.
A week after the interview was posted online, Morgan issued an apology after the couple’s lawyer Alex Spiro contacted him.
“Jaguar, unexpectedly, made several serious allegations about Jay-Z and Beyoncé during that interview,” Morgan began.
“As I said in the moment, they were not present to respond or defend themselves, but now they have. We had lawyers contact us to say that those claims were totally false and have no basis in fact, and we’ve therefore complied with a legal request to cut them from the original interview.”
“We’ve therefore complied with the legal request to cut them from the original interview,” Morgan continued.
“Editing interviews is not something we do lightly on a show called Uncensored. But, like the proverbial cries of fire in a crowded theatre, there are legal limits on us, too. And we apologise to Jay-Z and Beyoncé.”
Speaking to TMZ, lawyer Alex Spiro said Morgan’s original decision to air the interview with the allegations against Beyoncé and Jay-Z was not just harmful to the couple, but Combs’ alleged victim too. He also refuted the original claims that Morgan was sent a cease and desist.
“Somebody reported it was a cease and desist, it wasn’t that,” Spiro said.
“It was quite bluntly an ultimatum.”
“I think he made a wise choice and acted accordingly,” Spiro said of Morgan’s decision to edit out Wright’s claims.
“It didn’t just harm the Carters. What he did, effectively, was to drown out the voices of actual victims in an ongoing case, in an ongoing investigation. And that was that was too much for me.”
Combs is currently being held in prison, facing charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, he could be facing a minimum of 15 years to life behind bars.
Combs has denied all allegations against him.
Help is available.
If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
If you’d like to speak to someone about sexual violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
