Teen group Mindless Behavior got a collective gasp out of everyone on Sunday night at the 2012 BET Awards when they made a less than funny joke about Lauryn Hill.

While onstage with comedian and actor Mike Epps to present the award for Best Female R&B Artist, one of the group’s members Ray Ray told Epps his singing was “bad…like Lauryn Hill’s tax accountant bad.”

The supposed joke was in reference to Ms. Hill’s recent legal troubles, which saw her plead guilty last week to 3 counts of tax evasion. She faces up to 3 years in prison for the charges.

The comment did more than just offend the audience. Apparently, Beyonce, who won the award, also was upset by it, as she changed her acceptance speech to thank Ms. Hill for her contribution to music, saying, “I want to thank all the talented R&B women that came before me like Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige.”

Well yesterday, after feeling the heat their comments brought on, the group tweeted an apology for the joke.

we meant no disrespect to our girl Lauryn Hill last night, it was a bad joke. we’re big fans and hope you’re not mad! ‪#peace‬ -MB

To be fair, the boys didn’t write the joke themselves. What did you think of the comment? Should Mindless Behavior be the only ones apologizing?