BAFTA apologises 'unreservedly' over racial slur broadcast during film awards

BAFTA has apologised "unreservedly" over an incident which saw a racial slur broadcast during the film awards.

Disability campaigner John Davidson, who has Tourette's, was heard shouting as Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented an award during the ceremony on 22 February.

The incident was broadcast on the BBC with a two-hour time delay.

The BAFTA board said an independent review into the incident identified "a number of structural weaknesses in Bafta's planning, escalation procedures and crisis co-ordination arrangements" for the awards.

But it "did not find evidence of malicious intent on the part of those involved in delivering the event".

In a statement it said: "We apologise unreservedly to the black community, for whom the racist language used carries real pain, brutality, and trauma, to the disability community, including people with Tourette Syndrome, for whom this incident has led to unfair judgment, stigma, and distress; and to all our members, guests at the ceremony and those watching at home.

"What was supposed to be a moment of celebration was diminished and overshadowed. We have written to those directly impacted on the night to apologise.

"The review is clear that while this was not a failure of intent, Bafta's planning and processes have not kept pace with its diversity and inclusion goals.

"We did not adequately anticipate or fully prepare for the impact of such an incident in a live event environment and as a result our duty of care to everyone at the ceremony and watching at home fell short."

The academy said work was underway to address the areas of improvement specified in the review, which was carried out by Rise Associates, to "reduce the risk of this happening again".

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It comes after an investigation found the BBC breached its own editorial standards when it broadcast the slur.

An investigation by the BBC's executive complaints unit (ECU) found the inclusion of the slur was "highly offensive" and "had no editorial justification".

However, it said broadcasting the slur was unintentional.

It said the slur had been edited out of the version of coverage available on iPlayer when the event finished, but a delay of several hours was caused by "a lack of clarity among the team as to whether the N-word was audible on the recording".

The delay was "a serious mistake," the ECU added, "because there could be no certainty that the word would be inaudible to all viewers".

The report confirmed the BBC's chief content officer has sent letters of apology to Lindo, Jordan and Mr Davidson.

(c) Sky News 2026: BAFTA apologises 'unreservedly' over racial slur broadcast during film awards