Piers Morgan forced to apologise to Beyoncé and Jay-Z for guest’s false claims on his talk show
Piers Morgan has apologised to Beyoncé and husband Jay Z over claims made by a guest on his talk show. (Getty)
Broadcaster Piers Morgan has been forced to issue a live apology to Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z over claims made on his online talk show.
Addressing viewers of TalkTV’s Uncensored on Tuesday night (8 October), the former Good Morning Britain host and Daily Mirror editor – both jobs that ended in controversy – apologised for claims made last week by guest Jaguar Wright.
The “What You Want” singer had appeared to discuss the sexual misconduct allegations made against musician Sean Diddy Combs, who is facing lawsuits from some 120 accusers.
She said that she had been “screaming” that “Diddy and Jay-Z are monsters” for four years.
Morgan failed to ask Wright to back up her claim although he did point out that that Jay-Z and Beyoncé and weren’t on the show to defend themselves.
On Tuesday (8 October), Morgan was contacted by the couple’s lawyer, prompting him to make an on-air apology. “The thing about platforms, the reality of the modern world is that pretty much everyone has a platform as long as they have something to say that other people want to hear,” he said.
“That’s why we invited [Wright] on to be interviewed. The people making these claims have an audience with or without shows like mine. Well, Jaguar, unexpectedly, made several serious allegations about Jay-Z and Beyoncé during that interview. 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.
“Editing interviews is not something we do lightly at 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.”
