BBC Rebukes ‘Have I Got News For You’ After Complaints About “Gratuitously Offensive” Victoria Beckham Joke

The BBC has edited out a Victoria Beckham joke from Have I Got News for You after the UK broadcaster ruled that it was editorially unjustified.

The BBC received complaints from two viewers, who argued that a gag in which Beckham was compared to a “c**t” was “gratuitously offensive.”

Katherine Ryan, who guest presented the November 7 episode of the satirical quiz show, made the joke after referencing a 2013 private email in which David Beckham allegedly described the UK honours committee as a “bunch of c***ts” after he was passed over for a knighthood.

Ryan then turned to Have I Got News for You‘s panellists and 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.”

In a ruling published on Thursday, the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit concluded: “There was no justification for a comment which presented Victoria Beckham as equivalent to a particularly offensive word.”

The ruling added: “The relevant BBC editorial guidelines do not require programmes to avoid giving offence but do require that any offence should be editorially justified.”

The Executive Complaints Unit said its ruling was reported to senior leaders in BBC content. The original Have I Got News for You episode was edited and re-uploaded to iPlayer. The joke no longer appears in the version available on the streaming service.

Deadline has contacted Jimmy Mulville, founder of Have I Got News for You producer Hat Trick Productions, for comment.

It is the second time in a week that the BBC has made headlines for editing jokes out of comedy shows. The corporation confirmed earlier this week that Blackface sketches featured in That Mitchell and Webb Look had been cut ahead of it being restored to iPlayer for its 20th anniversary.

As many as 11 sketches were removed, including a self-referential skit in which David Mitchell and Robert Webb joked about the appropriateness of Blackface while in Blackface. The BBC’s decision was criticized by comedians including John Cleese, who accused the broadcaster of “social engineering.”