BBC apologises after live X-rated D-Day on-air blunder

The BBC has apologised after a rude word was accidentally broadcast during the D-Day commemorations. Kirsty Young was anchoring the special coverage for the BBC, D-Day 80: Tribute to the Fallen, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

Young was speaking live from the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Bayeaux, France, as the cameras cut to a clip of a military band performing. During a delay in the cutaway, a man was heard to make a derogatory comment off-camera, saying 'French a*******s!'.

At the time of the comment, Young was sitting alongside historian James Holland, as well as Anthea Goldsmith, the daughter of D-Day hero Theodore Iondies, who also looked on in horror. Currently, it is not known who made the comment.

Sharing a clip of the incident on X, formerly known as Twitter, TV critic Scott Bryan said: "Not sure what exactly happened here during the BBC's D-Day coverage. Yep. You heard that right." Responding to it, one user said: "I thought I misheard that."

Another user said: "This sounds pretty clear to me. Whoever swore should be ashamed of themselves. The BBC should know better than this. It has spoiled a respectful and reflective event," while another added: "Didn’t catch that off-camera remark when I was watching live — I was more distracted by the awkward cut. It was one of several bits of misdirection, which (I’m sorry!) rather let down an otherwise well-produced and impressive broadcast. The illuminated headstones were v powerful."

Another penned: "Someone's getting fired @BBCNews, didn't cut the cameras fast enough on the D-Day 80th to save the guy who said 'a*******s' on camera." Meanwhile, a fourth said: "Did anyone hear anything slightly unexpected when the camera wobbled on the BBC's D-Day 80 tribute just now? Have listened to it back and it sounds pretty clear to me…"

A spokesperson for the BBC told the Mirror: "We sincerely apologise for an inappropriate comment that was captured during live coverage of the D-Day at 80 event in Bayeux. The programme is being edited and is temporarily unavailable on BBC iPlayer."