Several celebrities are trying to distance themselves from Sean “Diddy” Combs as he sits in jail awaiting trial on charges including sex trafficking and racketeering. Kevin Hart, for one, avoided questions about the rapper, while Beyoncé And Jay-Z were forced to go on the defensive after being accused of similar behavior on Piers Morgan’s show. The Carters’ lawyer slammed the journalist for allowing the “false accusation” to be broadcast.
The interview in question aired on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored on October 3, where singer Jaguar Wright claimed powerhouse couple Jay-Z and Beyoncé had more “victims” than P. Diddy. The couple’s lawyer Alex Spiro spoke on TMZ Live, revealing that the team had issued an ultimatum to Morgan to take down the interview or face legal action. Spiro said:
There’s rumors and then there’s nonsense and this is one step further. This is a pointed and formal accusation of something. I felt they needed to be responded to. I think somebody reported it was a cease and desist. It wasn’t that. It was quite bluntly an ultimatum which is, remove that false accusation that’s demonstrably false or a court’s going to order you to.
Piers Morgan did remove the clip from his interview with Jaguar Brown and apologized to Jay-Z and Beyoncé on the October 8 edition of Uncensored, which Alex Spiro called a “wise choice.” The interview aired just days after 120 alleged victims filed civil suits against P. Diddy, accusing him of crimes including sexual assault — in one case of a 9-year-old — over the course of three decades.
Despite Piers Morgan acting “accordingly” by editing his show, Alex Spiro still had sharp words for the former Daily Mirror editor, questioning his integrity for airing the comment that compared his clients to Diddy at all. Spiro said:
What changed here in my mind is that somebody on a so-called journalistic platform exploited that kind of random rumor mill, whether it’s disconnected from reality, or what have you, and lifted it up. … And by doing that to get clicks, 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 is too much for me.
On Uncensored on Tuesday, Piers Morgan addressed the Jaguar Wright interview. After pointing out that she has an audience with or without using his show, he said:
Jaguar Wright 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. Their lawyers contacted us to say that those claims were totally false and have no basis in fact. And we’ve therefore complied with the 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 theater, there are legal limits on us too. We apologize to Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
The Carters — who are longtime friends of Diddy — haven’t spoken out since the rapper’s September 16 arrest.
Sean Combs continues to try to get released on bond as he awaits his trial. After being denied twice in his attempts to post a $50 million bail, Combs’ legal team filed another appeal this week, explaining why he is not a flight risk. It was unknown when a ruling would come on the latest request.