BAFTAs Backlash: BBC Apologizes For Airing N-Word Outburst

The BBC is doing damage control following the BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday, Feb, 22, where a now-viral moment has led the network to issue an apology.

The UK’s national public service broadcaster is being heavily criticized for not editing out a racial slur from the BAFTA’s tape-delayed broadcast over the weekend, and now says it will remove the incident from the version of the ceremony on iPlayer.

The outburst came from John Davidson, a Tourette syndrome campaigner seated in the audience; He is the subject of the biopic, I Swear. Davidson’s condition causes him to produce involuntary vocal tics, which is what happened when he loudly said the N-word as actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo took the stage to hand out the prize for best visual effects.

While the remark was said to be barely audible amid the noise of the ceremony, per Variety, it was picked up in the BBC’s coverage. Now, the BBC is facing scrutiny over the fact that the broadcast operated on a two-hour tape delay before airing on BBC One and iPlayer, which is a buffer that editors would ordinarily use to remove exactly this kind of situation.

The network pulled the BAFTA Film Awards from iPlayer early Monday afternoon, which led to a statement from a BBC spokesperson:

“Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards. This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional. We apologize that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”

During the ceremony, BAFTAs host Alan Cumming made an announcement explaining the situation, explaining:

“Tourette syndrome is a disability, and the tics you’ve heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette syndrome has no control over their language. We apologise if you are offended tonight.”

Still, some viewers aren’t so sure that the nature of the outburst was completely involuntary, questioning the ability to blame the situation on Tourette syndrome.

Jamie Foxx commented on a post about the incident on TheNeighborhood Talk, calling it, “Unacceptable” and adding, “Nah he meant that s**t”.

Journalist Jemele Hill wrote on social media: “Black people are just supposed to be ok with being disrespected and dehumanized so that other people don’t feel bad.”

Actor Wendell Pierce also commented on the situation, saying, “It’s infuriating that the first reaction wasn’t complete and full-throated apologies to Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan. The insult to them takes priority. It doesn’t matter the reasoning for the racist slur.”

Delroy Lindo has made a brief statement following the upsetting onstage moment, saying he and his Sinners co-star Michael B. Jordan “did what we had to do” when the slur was shouted out.

At the Warner Bros. after-party following the ceremony, Lindo told Vanity Fair that he and Jordan “did what we had to do” while presenting, but that he also wished “someone from BAFTA spoke to us afterward.”

Later on social media, Sinners production designer Hannah Beachler said that she also had a racial slur directed at her, criticizing what she deemed a “throwaway” apology.

“I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through,” she wrote. “But what made the situation worse was the throwaway apology of ‘if you were offended’ at the end of the show.”

To make matters worse, the BBC actually did edit some content out of the show, even though they initially chose to leave the N-word incident intact.