BBC D-Day show 'axed' from iPlayer and apology issued after offensive off camera remark

Simon Duke

6 June 2024 at 9:13 am·1-min read

Kirsty Young hosts BBC D-Day coverage — -Credit: (Image: BBC)

The BBC has issued an 'urgent' apology and pulled one of its D-Day programmes from iPlayer, after an offensive comment was made off camera and heard by viewers at home.

Like many other channels, the BBC devoted large parts of its morning schedule to the 80th anniversary celebrations of the D-Day landings in Normndy, as presenter Kirsty Young anchored coverage from the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Bayeaux, France.

An early part of the broadcast saw cameras soon cut to a clip of a military band performing, however, as Kirsty cut to the footage and introduced the commentator, someone off camera could be heard muttering "French a**holes," a remark that quickly sparked a lot of complaints online. Taking to X and making sure they weren't hearing things, one viewer wrote: "Did someone just say French A**eholes on the D Day Tribute?"

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Confirming that their suspicions were correct, a number of other people tuning in at the time replied to say they'd heard the same thing, as Kirsty and her guests in the studio, Anthea Goldsmith, the daughter of D-Day hero Theodore Iondies and historian James Holland started to look rather uncomfortable.

The BBC acted quickly to remove the programme from iPlayer as they edited the remark out and apology, published by The Mirror: read: "We sincerely apologise for an inappropriate comment that was captured during live coverage of the D-Day at 80 events in Bayeux. The programme is being edited and is temporarily unavailable on BBC iPlayer."

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