What did Jack Whitehall say about Becky Hill at the 2025 BRIT Awards? Singer hits back at the comedian

Comedian Jack Whitehall said that singer Becky Hill was the "Wetherspoons Whitney" at the 2025 BRIT Awards on March 1. This comment has now drawn criticism. Hell, who received a nomination for Best Dance Act, took offence at the remark and took to social media to reply, denouncing Whitehall as a "privately educated nepo baby" and denouncing classism in his remarks.

Whitehall made an effort to emphasize the variety of this year's candidates while serving as host, saying:

“From the soaring vocals of the Wetherspoons Whitney Becky Hill, to the atmospheric house of Top Jaw with decks, Fred Again…”

some audience members laughed, while others wondered what the joke had to say. Given her Midlands accent, Whitehall's mention of Wetherspoons, a low-cost British pub brand, raised suspicions about Hill's socioeconomic status.

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Becky Hill's response: A clapback at privilege

On March 11, Becky Hill responded to Whitehall's remarks on her Instagram story. She reposted an article that highlighted the amount of BRIT winners who had private education, such as The Last Dinner Party (Bedales), A.G. Cook (King Alfred's School), and Charli XCX (Bishop's Stortford College). Whitehall himself was a student at Oxford's £52,000 annual Dragon School.

Hill wrote on her story,

“Imagine being called a ‘Wetherspoons Whitney’ by some privately educated nepo baby who has a TV show with daddy the showbiz agent on national TV. My parents worked so hard to provide a middle-class life for me, even though they couldn’t afford it."

She continued,

"No one gave me a leg up. I wasn’t near London, so I couldn’t go to the BRIT School. So if you associate a Midlands accent with a Wetherspoons, that says more about the silver spoon in your mouth, jolly ol’ boy.”

In her subsequent story, she included a selfie along with the following caption,

“Me and my working-class attitude off to WORK today. Remember not to be out of touch today, kids, even if ur daddy is rich. Shout out Jack Whitehall for the fuel to my fire.”

Class privilege in the music industry has come up again as a result of Hill's answer. Best-selling musicians are six times more likely to have had private education than state school education, according to a previous survey by the UK-based social mobility organization Sutton Trust. Whitehall's joke, according to critics, illustrates the persistent class gap in entertainment.

TV broadcaster Miquita Oliver also took issue with Whitehall's hosting, saying he made "condescending" remarks about artists, including frequent allusions to drug usage. Oliver stated during an interview with Lily Allen on the Miss Me? podcast,

“I felt like he brought a condescending and somewhat glib attitude to the proceedings.”

Becky Whitehall has not yet addressed Hill's comments. Social media users are still debating whether his comment was lighthearted banter or an example of the pervasive class prejudice in the entertainment industry.

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Becky Hill is currently concentrating on her work despite the issue. She is continuing to build on the success of her second studio album, Believe Me Now?, which reached No. 3 on the Official UK Albums Chart, and is scheduled to play at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July.