The Rest Is Entertainment host Marina Hyde defends Katherine Ryan over Victoria Beckham slur controversy as Richard Osman praises the comedian for 'owning' her apology

Katherine Ryan's Victoria Beckham slur has been defended by journalist Marina Hyde, who has insisted 'I don't think it's that big of a deal.'

Viewers of BBC show Have I Got News For You complained after Katherine, 43, seemingly referred to the Spice Girl, 52, as a c-word during a November 2025 episode.

On Friday Katherine offered a public apology to Victoria, after the BBC upheld complaints. The comedian said she was 'suffering from a condition called matrescence' after giving birth just ten days before filming the TV show. 

Discussing the incident on their podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, Marina and her co-host, writer and producer Richard Osman called Katherine's apology 'brilliant.' 

Marina added: 'I yield to absolutely no one in my admiration for her... Her explanation, she says she'd had a baby 10 days before. I mean, she is amazing. She's like such an unbelievable workhorse.'

Pointing out that the BBC investigated over just two complaints, Marina argued that 'you can find two people who find anything gratuitously offensive. I actually think they [the BBC] should have left it.'

'People complain that Have I Got News For You is not near the knuckle enough. And then when they do something like this, this happens. I just don't think it's that big of a deal.'

Richard pointed out that the 'issue is if you complain to the BBC, they have to investigate. I mean, that's part of the charter. 

'I guess if you investigate that joke and you see it in black and white and you take it slightly out of context, I guess it's hard to say anything other than "yeah, I suppose it is sort of offensive"'.

'It's so hard to understand a joke when you read about it. And that tells you everything... which is context,' Marina agreed. 

'Her apology is just brilliant,' Richard added. 'That's how to own something. She's so smart.'

'Does Victoria Beckham care? No, I'm certain she doesn't. Does Katherine Ryan come out well out of it? Yes, she does.'  

On the programme, which was hosted by Katherine, the segment discussed David Beckham allegedly using the c-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'.

Katherine then 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.'   

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.

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.'

Katherine posted an apology on social media on Friday and said in the video: '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'.