After lawyers complained about a guest associating the celebrity duo with the crimes of Sean “Diddy” Combs, the host has now edited the footage.

Censorship can sometimes be necessary even for free-speech firebrands. That time came for Piers Morgan this week, when he issued an apology to Beyoncé and Jay-Z live on the air in a new episode of his show Uncensored.

The apology is related to the Oct. 2 episode of Uncensored, when Morgan interviewed singer Jaguar Wright about the ongoing legal case against hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. Combs is accused of sex trafficking and racketeering by the federal government, and more than 100 people have come forward with accusations of sexual assault and abuse. But in discussing those cases with Morgan, Wright alleged that Jay-Z (for whom she previously worked as a back-up singer) might be guilty of similar crimes and that he and wife Beyoncé have “victims” as well.

According to Morgan, he was subsequently contacted by lawyers for the celebrity duo, and has taken their advice to heart. This decision was surely not made lightly by the man who left his job on Good Morning Britain in 2021 after refusing to apologize for his criticisms of Meghan Markle.

“Their lawyers contacted us to say that those claims were totally false and have no basis in fact. We’ve therefore complied with the legal request to cut them from the original interview,” Morgan said on air, before noting the inherent irony. “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 apologize to Jay-Z and Beyoncé.”

Piers Morgan; Jay-Z and Beyonce at the Met Gala in 2014.Karwai Tang/WireImage; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

After his homes in L.A. and Miami were raided by federal authorities back in March, Combs was indicted by a grand jury on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution, and subsequently arrested in Manhattan in September. He has plead not guilty to the charges, but was denied bail by two different judges, and remains in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Combs is facing civil litigation as well. More than 120 people, comprising both men and women, are suing the mogul for sexual misconduct. Combs’ lawyers deny the accusations.