Victoria Beckham appeared rather uneasy after being told to ‘smile’ – every woman’s favourite line to hear – as part of a punchline to a joke at a swanky event.
Her and her husband Sir David were guests at the Time 100 Gala in New York City on Thursday night, where the publication was celebrating the most influential people of the year.
The former Spice Girl, 52, was named among them after her successful pivot to luxury fashion designer and entrepreneur.
But comedian host Nikki Glaser, known for her edgy humour, made fun of Victoria’s tendency to keep a straight face in the public eye during her opening speech.
‘One of the most impressive people on the list is Victoria Beckham of course. She was a global pop star, now a serious fashion designer, she’s married to David Beckham; she’s rich, successful, stunning,’ Nikki began the joke.
‘What’s it going to take to get you to smile? I mean, really. Please – smile! You’re one of the only British people who should,’ she added, to laughs in the room.
But when the camera from a Hollywood Reporter journalist panned over to catch Victoria’s reaction, it found David, 50, grinning gamely and appearing relaxed.
However, wife Victoria leant forward and rested her elbow on the table with an intense glimmer in her eyes – and the tiniest flicker of a very uncomfortable smile playing on her lips.
Posting the moment on Instagram drew fans to debate the exchange and whether it was ‘funny’ or not.
‘Having a woman tear another woman down is sad – no one should tell anyone what they SHOULD do more of. Don’t ever change @victoriabeckham you’re perfect as you are and we all live [sic] and support you!!!’ commented Amy Sessions, while JJ Powell observed that the quip ‘did not land’ and others called it ‘impolite’.
The joke was also branded ‘awkward’ and ‘totally offensive’, as another Instagram user dismissed it with: ‘Don’t tell women to smile thx next joke pls [sic].’
Some fans also enjoyed that Victoria didn’t give Nikki the smile or laugh she was after, quipping that the comic was ‘working overtime hoping Victoria will send three baskets of @victoriabeckhambeauty to out-do @leonardodicaprio’.
This came after Nikki revealed she sends flowers to anyone she roasts, with Leonardo the only one to ever send something back after she took him to task at the Golden Globes for never dating a woman aged over 30.
‘And she still didn’t smile much lol,’ wrote Kat Zammuto
‘I LOVE the fact she didn’t force herself to smile!! What a lazy joke,’ added Emily Šahmanovič.
A clearly tickled David also faced some criticism with fans feeling he ‘should have at least looked at her for comfort’, even if it was a ‘throwaway’ joke.
‘I’m smiling on the inside, I feel that I have a responsibility to the fashion community,’ the star once previously joked of her reluctance to smile in photos. But she also linked it back to seriously struggling with her body image in the early days of her Spice Girls fame.
‘I probably did look stern in a lot of pictures, but I was so uncomfortable,’ she told The Telegraph.
She will also have been feeling the strain of the very public feud with eldest son Brooklyn, 27, which hit headlines after his explosive takedown of them on Instagram in January.
Last week Victoria addressed the fallout for the first time before going on the Today show to discuss her ‘challenging’ year.
In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, she said: ‘I think that we’ve always—we love our children so much. We’ve always tried to be the best parents that we can be.’
‘And you know, we’ve been in the public eye for more than 30 years right now, and all we’ve ever tried to do is protect our children and love our children. And you know, that’s all I really want to say about it.’
She apparently did ‘not reply with his name’ but responded when asked if she felt guilt or remorse for bringing her children into the spotlight at such an early age.
All of their kids – Brooklyn, Romeo, 23, Cruz, 21, and Harper, 14 – have spent much of their childhoods chased by paparazzi and shared on social media.
Victoria continued: ‘I wouldn’t say it comes with guilt, I’d say that there was a lot of adjusting from my mum and dad, when all of a sudden there were paparazzi outside their house.
‘We’ve really taken our families on this ride with us.’
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