Katherine Ryan takes cheeky swipe at David Beckham
KATHERINE Ryan couldn’t resist taking a cheeky pop at David Beckham as she joked about being “cancelled” by the BBC after her rude slur about his wife Victoria.
Last month it was revealed that the broadcaster had upheld complaints after she made the offensive joke about Posh Spice while hosting an episode of Have I Got News For You last year.
Two weeks ago, Katherine issued an online apology to Victoria, 52, after the ruling by the BBC‘s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU).
Raising the controversy during a stand-up gig in Chelsea, London, last night, the 43-year-old declared her love for Victoria Beckham while making a sly joke about her famous footballer hubby.
“I have been cancelled by the BBC for allegedly calling Victoria Beckham the C word,” she said.
“Or as David Beckham knows it – the K word, because bless him the alphabet is hard,” prompting laughter from the audience.
“But I actually did not do that, I actually love Victoria Beckham.”
Speaking in an episode that aired on November 7 in 2025, Katherine 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’s Executive Complaints Unit said “there was no such justification” for the comment which two viewers had complained was “gratuitously offensive”.
They added that the word was justified in relation to David’s alleged use of it, but not in reference to his wife.
Now an edited version of the episode has replaced the original on the BBC’s streaming service.
Katherine Ryan publicly apologised to Victoria in an Instagram reel where she shared a screenshot of her message to the fashion designer.
“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,” she began.
“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,” Katherine said in her trademark sarcastic way.
“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’.”
She then plugged 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.”
In her apologise message to Victoria shown on screen, Katherine told her it was a “throwaway” comment and that she immediately expressed her love for her after, making it clear it was a “stupid joke”.
