Victoria Beckham contacted Katherine Ryan over ‘stupid joke’ as comedian ‘forced’ to apologise

Victoria Beckham reportedly contacted Katherine Ryan over a ‘stupid joke’ the comedian made.

The 43-year-old apologised after the BBC upheld complaints about a joke she made during an episode of Have I Got News For You.

The remark during an episode that was aired on 7 November 2025. Two viewers complained about the comment, describing it as 'gratuitously offensive'.

Ryan made a reference to a private email sent by Sir David Beckham in 2013 in which he allegedly used the c-word.

Ryan said: “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.”

Reflecting on the joke, she told Heat magazine: “If Victoria had seen the broadcast she would have known it was tongue-in-cheek. I never actually used the C-word, I was being cheeky while trying to wrap up a segment.

‘But Victoria reached out to me as soon as it happened and said she was offended. I unreservedly apologised and said ‘I love you and I’m really sorry. This is just how I am and I certainly didn’t mean to hurt any feelings’.”

The joke was made by Katherine Ryan (BBC)

She continued: “That’s the last I heard from her and I haven’t reached out to Victoria since. I think you should say sorry once, and leave it at that. Maybe we can patch things up one day.”

According to the BBC's ECU, the use of the C-word during the discussion was editorially justified because the panel was discussing the David Beckham story and alleged leaked emails in which the word had appeared.

However, the complaints unit drew a distinction between that discussion and Ryan's joke about Victoria.

In its ruling, the ECU said: "The relevant BBC Editorial Guidelines do not require programmes to avoid giving offence, but do require that any offence should be editorially justified."

It then concluded: "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.”

Katherine Ryan revealed she spoke to Victoria Beckham about the remark (Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)

The finding was subsequently reported to BBC Content management, and an edited version of the episode was uploaded to iPlayer.

The BBC had initially defended the use of strong language in the programme, pointing out that the episode was broadcast after the watershed and carried a warning for very strong language.

However, following the ECU review, the Victoria jibe was removed, prompting a response from the show's producer, Jimmy Mulville.

Mulville criticised the length of the BBC investigation and described it as 'a total waste of the licence fee'.

He also argued that the joke had been misunderstood, saying the word can have a different meaning within contemporary queer and ballroom culture.

Mulville said: "In contemporary queer and ballroom culture, the word has been reclaimed. It is used to describe someone who looks extremely confident, impeccably styled, fierce or authentically and powerfully feminine."

He added: "Katherine Ryan is a woman who would not disparage another woman in that way."