Fans of Sir David Beckham have criticised the BBC comedy quiz show Have I Got News For You for broadcasting a curse word during a segment about his knighthood. Comedians Katherine Ryan and Maisie Adams both used the word “c**t” on Friday’s episode while discussing Beckham receiving the honour at Windsor Castle.
During the show, host Katherine Ryan read from her script about a 2013 email leak scandal, in which Beckham allegedly complained about not receiving a knighthood. She said: “In 2013, when he did not get a knighthood, he emailed his PR saying, ‘They’re a bunch of c**ts I expected nothing less.’” Adams then joked: “It would have been nice and maybe, like, poetic if Charles had got his own back just by knighting him and then going, ‘Arise, you c**t.’”
Some viewers expressed outrage online, calling the language “jarring” and “unacceptable”. One wrote on X: “Heads should roll for allowing the C word to be broadcast at least twice during HIGNFY.” Another added: “Unacceptable broadcasting of the ‘C’ word. This is a recorded programme, so who at the BBC felt it was ok not to cut or bleep it out? Really disappointing.”
Ryan made light of the backlash on Instagram, sharing a screenshot of a headline about the uproar and joking: “And that was just my intro!” During the episode, she acknowledged the use of the word, telling the camera: “I don’t know that we are allowed to broadcast the C-word.” She also clarified that Beckham denies some of the content in the alleged leaked emails, referencing a statement from his spokesperson at the time.
Beckham received his knighthood for services to sport and charity last week, describing the day as “full of emotion and tears”. He celebrated with an afterparty at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant in west London, attended by his family, though his son Brooklyn was notably absent amid rumours of a feud.
