Comedian Katherine Ryan has reopened her feud with Britain's most famous showbusiness family, taking aim at David Beckham during a stand-up gig in Chelsea just weeks after issuing a public apology to his wife Victoria.
According to reports, Ryan addressed the BBC controversy surrounding her during the October 8 performance, presenting herself as having been cancelled by the broadcaster. She then turned the punchline towards David and his previously leaked emails, joking that the former England captain knew the offensive word in question as the K-word because the alphabet was hard for him. The remark drew laughter from the audience.
The controversy began when Ryan hosted an episode of Have I Got News for You that aired on November 7, 2025. During a discussion of David Beckham's leaked private emails from 2013, in which he allegedly used an offensive term about the honours committee that denied him a knighthood, 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.
Two viewers complained. After a lengthy investigation, the BBC's Executive Complaints Unit upheld the complaints in late September, ruling that while discussing David's alleged language had editorial justification, there was no justification for presenting Victoria Beckham as equivalent to a particularly offensive word. The broadcaster cut the offending section from the version of the episode available on BBC iPlayer.
Ryan responded with an Instagram video in which she apologised for what she called a stupid joke. She revealed she had been presenting the show just ten days after giving birth to her fourth child, and attributed her poor judgment to matrescence, the physical and emotional transition into motherhood. She also disclosed that she had apologised privately to Victoria at the time the programme aired, insisting she had immediately followed the joke on the night by saying she loved her.
David Beckham's representatives have previously claimed the leaked emails were heavily doctored and that swear words were added to the private correspondence. The Beckhams have not publicly responded to Ryan's latest jibe.
Ryan also shared the private message she sent to Beckham after the original broadcast, writing: Oh my GOD I'm so sorry. It wasn't the way the press printed it at all. She later read an extract from her forthcoming memoir, Confessions Of A Firstborn Daughter, which she said contains positive comments about the former Spice Girl, underlining that she regarded the remark as a throwaway joke rather than a genuine attack.
Ryan ended her Chelsea set by insisting she held no ill will towards the fashion designer, telling the audience: I actually love Victoria Beckham. But with the BBC ruling still fresh and the comedian showing no sign of dropping the subject, the row looks set to run a while longer.