BBC forced to cut 'offensive' Victoria Beckham joke from episode of comedy show
The BBC has edited an episode of Have I Got News for You after a complaint about a joke made about Victoria Beckham was upheld by the broadcaster's Executive Complaints Unit (ECU).
The remark was made by comedian Katherine Ryan while she was guest presenting the BBC One comedy panel show, which originally aired on 7 November 2025. Two viewers complained about the comment, describing it as 'gratuitously offensive'.
The BBC has now ruled that the joke was not editorially justified, meaning the version of the episode available on BBC iPlayer has been edited to remove the remark.
The incident came during a discussion about an alleged private email sent by football legend David Beckham in 2013.
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The email, which had previously been reported publicly, involved the former footballer using the C-word while expressing his anger after being overlooked for a knighthood.
During the discussion, Ryan referenced the word before making a joke about David's wife, 52-year-old Spice Girls alum Victoria.
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."
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."
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."
The producer also pointed out that Canadian-born comedian Ryan had exchanged messages with Victoria on Instagram about the remark.
"The fact that two members of a 6 million audience took offence, which then triggered a year-long investigation by the BBC's Executive Complaints Unit, whom we've never met and sounds like something out of Kafka, is a total waste of the licence fee and is another example of the BBC's paranoia about causing offence," Mulville went on.
The BBC's ruling does not mean the broadcaster has banned the use of the C-word altogether.
Instead, the ECU specifically found that its use in the context of the David Beckham discussion had editorial justification, while Ryan's subsequent comparison involving Victoria did not.
The episode remains available on BBC iPlayer, but with the offending joke removed.
Topics: BBC, Victoria Beckham, David Beckham, Celebrity, TV And Film
Rhianna Benson