Katherine Ryan says she tried to 'make it right' with Victoria Beckham over 'stupid joke' after BBC upheld complaints over the slur

Katherine Ryan has said she tried to 'make it right' with Victoria Beckham after the BBC upheld complaints about her linking an obscene term to the fashion designer on Have I Got News For You.

The comedian, 43, said even her husband Bobby Kootstra was unimpressed by the slur and told her 'you get yourself in trouble'. 

'I was being irreverent. I adore her, and I don’t care what people think, but equally I do have accountability for hurting people’s feelings,' Katherine told The Times. 

'Even if they’re a massive celebrity, I do feel bad about that. I try to make it right. For a few days I walked around … Even Bobby was shaking his head. He was like, "You get yourself into trouble sometimes, Katherine".'

On the programme, which was hosted by Katherine, the segment discussed David allegedly using the word in an email to his publicist where he expressed outrage at missing out on a knighthood in 2013 (he has since been knighted). He apparently referred to the honours committee as 'a bunch of cs'.

The BBC's Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) ruled that panellist Maisie Adam's use of the word 'c' was justified as it referred to Sir David's own alleged use of the term. 

However, the ECU ruling concluded that there was no editorial justification for Katherine's subsequent joke about his wife.

Katherine said in the recording: '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.'

In its ruling, the ECU said: 'There was no such justification for a comment which presented Victoria Beckham as equivalent to a particularly offensive word.'

An internal investigation into the episode of the satirical show in November 2025 came after two viewers said the remark was 'gratuitously offensive'.

Katherine later posted a video to her social media in response, blaming the incident on her being the mother of a newborn. 

She said: 'At that time, though there is no defence, I was suffering from a condition called matrescence. I was in that building with a ten-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.

'But this was described by the BBC as a slur, as though c are part of a protected group.

'If you watched it on the day, it was clearly a joke and the whole audience went [gasp] and then I said, "Woah, I love her".'

She also shared a screenshot of a message she sent to Victoria after 'to make it clear it was a stupid joke and I didn't mean any harm towards you at all'.

Elsewhere in the interview, Katherine said she ignores internet trolls. 

She said: 'If I can offer entertainment, even in the form of everyone slagging me off, I don’t mind. They’re having fun. I don’t give a s**t. I’m a millionaire with healthy children. Why give a s**t?'