BBC bosses face backlash after host Katherine Ryan uses the C-word in references to Sir David Beckham’s investiture and his wife Victoria on Have I Got News For You
The BBC faced mass backlash after the word ‘c**t’ was repeatedly used in reference to David and Victoria Beckham in Friday night’s episode of Have I Got News for You?
Presenter Katherine Ryan and panelist Maisie Adam used the expletive during an episode last week discussing Sir David’s appointment by King Charles, prompting viewers to criticize the Corporation.
Ms Ryan, the host of the long-running show, began by expressing her disappointment that the former England captain did not receive a knighthood in 2013, citing reports that she had allegedly emailed the PR guru and said that those who decided who got the Honours were ‘a bunch of idiots’.
Comedian Mrs. Man, 31, then continued with the expletive-filled portion of the pre-recorded programme’s script, telling Sir David that since he had finally received his knighthood last week, it would have been nice and perhaps poetic if ‘Charles’ had knighted him and said “Get up you bastard”.
Then, in a joke that sparked complaints about the BBC standards being aired on social media, Ms Ryan, a self-professed feminist, added: ‘I don’t know if we’re allowed to air the ‘C word’ but you made a reference to Victoria Beckham earlier…and we’ll allow that.’
The BBC faced mass backlash after the word ‘c**t’ was repeatedly used in reference to David and Victoria Beckham in Friday night’s episode of Have I Got News for You.
Presenter Katherine Ryan and panellist Maisie Adam used profanity last week during an episode discussing Sir David’s appointment by King Charles.
The presenter, who was in the audience looking shocked at the tone of Ms Ryan’s comment, 42, added: ‘I really like her… I wasn’t expecting that reaction.’
But viewers reacted angrily to the repeated use of the C-word on the programme, with others taking issue with its use as a slur about Lady Beckham, 51.
One wrote: ”It is unacceptable for the letter C to be published. This is a recorded programme, so who at the BBC thought it would be okay not to cut or bleep it? It’s really disappointing.”
Another called for Ms Ryan to be sacked, saying: ‘The same BBC that allowed the C-word to be broadcast during #hignfy was once linked to Victoria Beckham. Katherine Ryan needs to be suspended’.
Meanwhile, another said: ‘It’s such a weird and jarring thing to hear the c word (c**t) in Have I Got News For You.’
Another X-related poster raged: ‘Heads should be rolling for the C word to be allowed to air at least twice during #hignfy.’
While others have asked why it is acceptable for presenters on the show to repeatedly air the ‘C word’, BBC News Channel presenter Martine Croxall was slammed last week for claiming her ‘facial expression’ showed a personal view as she mentioned ‘pregnant people’, before changing the script to ‘pregnant women’.
The latest edition of Have I Got News For You also saw American comedian Mrs Ryan reveal to host Ian Hislop that she gave birth just two and a half weeks ago.
Ms Ryan, the host of the long-running show, began by expressing her disappointment that the former England captain did not receive a knighthood in 2013.
Comedian Mrs Adam, 31, then continued with the profanity-laced part of the pre-recorded programme’s script, saying Sir David had finally been knighted last week.
Ms Ryan has three other children with husband Bobby Koostra: son Fred and two-year-old daughter Fenna, and mother to 15-year-old Violet from a previous relationship.
Davina McCall’s speech Start Again In the podcast, which was recorded while she was still pregnant, Ms Ryan said she was branded ‘privileged’ after giving advice to other new mothers, particularly on toilet training.
After previously revealing that her son Fred ran out of nappies at eight months old, she said: ‘I tell babies you need to start toilet training from birth. I think it gets lost in translation when I say toilet training.’
‘People say: “What do you mean?” And they immediately get angry because they think, “Well, since I have a three-year-old child wearing a diaper, you’re saying it’s my fault, that I’m neglectful, that I don’t love my child.” I I think it was just a miscommunication.’
The mother-of-four explained that she believes ‘well-intentioned, very loving parents’ don’t realize they are actually that way. They teach their newborn babies how to use diapers.
‘If you take your diaper off regularly ‘You put them at intervals, you hold them on the potty, you train them to go potty.’
But Ms Ryan said she realized this would not work for every family, with many new mothers having to go straight back to work and babies being put into nursery.
‘The reaction I got was people saying: ‘Well, you’re privileged and you have chefs and nannies. ‘I don’t,’ before joking: ‘Well, I do.’
‘I have a nanny and a cleaner who comes twice a week, but I don’t have a chef. Oh, it’s Bobby. Yes. Ok my love. Here I have all this.
‘But I’m potty trained [eldest daughter] Violet as a financially insecure single mother.’
