Piers Morgan Slams Beyoncé’s 'Marilyn Monroe' Ad—Then Claims It Was a 'Joke'

Beyoncé’s new Levi’s campaign—a denim-soaked nod to Marilyn Monroe—arrived in the middle of a broader online dispute ignited by Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle spot. Some conservative figures suggested a double standard that favored the pop superstar over Sweeney.

And into that debate stepped British broadcaster Piers Morgan, immediately drawing the attention of the singer’s ever-vigilant Beyhive.

On August 6, Morgan posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he was “very disappointed to see Beyoncé culturally appropriate Marilyn Monroe in her new Levi’s ad.” Addressed to his 8.9 million followers, the remark traveled fast—amassing roughly 650,000 views and nearly 2,000 replies within hours as social media users dissected the claim.

Beyoncé’s supporters pushed back, noting that Monroe is a single historical figure rather than a cultural group and accusing Morgan of singling out Black women.

Facing the flood of mentions, Morgan responded to one critic by insisting the initial post was satire. “I would say I can’t believe anyone took my obvious Beyoncé joke post seriously, but I forgot the woke brigade have no sense of humor,” he wrote.

As of Thursday, August 7, neither Beyoncé nor Levi’s had issued a public response to Morgan’s latest remarks, and the commercial continues to circulate online.

This clash is hardly Morgan’s first brush with the Beyhive. In October 2024, he opened his talk show Piers Morgan Uncensored with a public apology to Beyoncé and JAY-Z after singer Jaguar Wright appeared on the program and claimed the couple had “hundreds of victims,” grouping them with Sean “Diddy” Combs in what she called a long-running pattern of abuse, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Within days, attorneys for the Carters contacted Morgan, labeling the allegations “totally false and without basis in fact” and demanding their removal.

Morgan complied, excising Wright’s statements from the interview and telling viewers, “Editing interviews is not something we do lightly on a show called Uncensored, but the legal limits apply to us as well—and we apologize to JAY-Z and Beyoncé.”