Comedian apologises for slur against Victoria Beckham - even though David said it first

British comedian Katherine Ryan has apologised to  Victoria Beckham after the BBC upheld complaints over a slur.

Ryan, a popular identity - but not as popular as the businesswoman and former Spice Girl  - made an offensive joke about Beckham when she was hosting an episode of Have I Got News For You in 2025.

Speaking in an episode that aired on November 7, Ryan made reference to a 2013 private email sent by David Beckham, where he allegedly used the word ‘c***’.

She said on the show: “I don’t know that we are allowed to broadcast the C-word, but you did reference Victoria Beckham earlier and we’ll allow that.”

The BBC has now found that airing of the moment breached their standards. It spent a year investigating the incident, and has been accused of wasting tax payers’ money.

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit said today: “There was no such justification for a comment which presented Victoria Beckham as equivalent to a particularly offensive word.”

They stated that the word was justified in relation to David’s alleged use of it, but not in reference to his wife.

“In the ECU's judgement, while the inclusion of the c-word in the programme derived editorial justification from David Beckham's alleged use of it and the satirical reflections this prompted, there was no such justification for a comment which presented Victoria Beckham as equivalent to a particularly offensive word.”

It added: “The relevant BBC editorial guidelines do not require programmes to avoid giving offence but do require that any offence should be editorially justified.”

Now Ryan has posted on her Instagram to apologise for the comment.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Katherine Ryan (@kathbum)

Katherine Ryan apologises to Victoria Beckham

Ryan began in her reel: 

“Hi I’m comedian Katherine Ryan and today the BBC announced their decision to uphold a complaint made by two very influential viewers about a joke that I tried to make on an episode of Have I Got News For You eleven months ago.

“At that time, though there is no defence, I was suffering from a condition called matrescence.

“I was in that building with a 10-day old baby. Should I have left the house?

“This is gonna be a tough one for the feminists because I was a woman going to work but I did call another woman a c***."

“Sometimes I forget that celebrities are not my friends. If I had called Jimmy Carr a c***, he wouldn’t have minded.

“Joanne McNally, c***, she wouldn’t have minded but this was described by the BBC as a slur.

“As though c**** are part of a protected group.

“The trouble is now that section’s been taken off iPlayer so the incident only exists in printed media, online media and then you lost the context because on the day, if you watched it, it was clearly a joke and the whole audience went ‘huhhhh’ and I said ‘whoaaaa’.”

Ryan took the opportunity to also mention her new book before adding: “I love Victoria Beckham so much that I actually included her in one of my celebrity firstborn daughter chapters.

“I’d like to read you that now whilst remaining very sorry.”

Ryan also  said in her post that she apologised to the star at the time. 

“I apologised unreservedly because though she is a c***, Victoria Beckham couldn’t be further from a c***.”