D-Day 80: BBC issue apology and pull D-Day coverage off air after 'inappropriate comment'

The BBC has issued an apology after an “inappropriate comment” when a man was caught making a derogatory comment off camera.

BBC’s D-Day 80: Tribute to the Fallen was live on air when the offensive remark was made. Presented by Kirsty Young the live coverage show was taking viewers through the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.

The anniversary coverage was being streamed live on BBC One, with politicians, journalists and war veterans travelling to France to honour the 80th anniversary of D-Day which took place on June, 6, 1944 and cost the lives of an estimated 4,000 allied troops.

Young was speaking live at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Bayeaux, France with historian James Holland and Anthea Goldsmith, whose father is Theodore Londies and had just introduced a military band when you could hear someone shouting, “French a**h****”.

What have the BBC said?

The BBC has issued a statement apologising for the incident and have explained that the programme has been pulled off the air. Speaking to Metro, they said: “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.”

A clip of what happened has been shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, by well-known TV critic Scott Bryan, alongside the caption: "Not sure what exactly happened here during the BBC's D-Day coverage. Yep. You heard that right."

Sarah McCann is a Trends Writer for NationalWorld who specialises in stories around TV, Film and Health. If you liked this article you can follow Sarah on X (Twitter) here. You can also sign up to her free weekly column in the NationalWorld newsletter bringing you the latest tv and film news every Thursday.