Team editing 2026 BAFTAs denies racial slur by Tourette's activist John Davidson to actors

The BBC asserts that those editing the video of the 2026 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) failed to detect racial slurs spoken by Tourette syndrome activist John Davidson in the presence of Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo.

On February 22 during the awards event, both Jordan, 39, and Lindo, 73, were on stage announcing an award when 54-year-old Davidson, who has been experiencing involuntary verbal and physical tics since he was 12 due to Tourette syndrome, shouted the Nword.

In a letter sent to the UK's Culture, Media & Sport Committee on March 6, Tim Davie, the BBC's director general, provided further details. 

He noted that the broadcast aired on BBC One with a two-hour delay and was available on iPlayer, the BBC's streaming service, until the next morning.

"I wish to emphasise that the BBC is deeply sorry for what took place during the BAFTAs broadcast," stated Davie, 58.

 "We have publicly apologized for this significant error, which resulted in a racial slur being aired and remaining accessible on iPlayer through the night into Monday. We grasp the hurt and astonishment this mistake triggered."

"To clarify, though the racial slur resulted from a disability and was an involuntary tic, it should not have been broadcast. It was a factual error, and we are fully accountable for this mistake," continued the media head, who stepped down in November after allegations arose involving a speech by President Donald Trump regarding the US Capitol incident on January 6.

Davie noted in his letter "multiple inquiries" were made following the racial slur situation, such as why the N-word wasn't edited out, whereas other broadcast sections were modified.

"While the matter is under ongoing evaluation, our preliminary information gathering revealed that no one in the live broadcast truck noticed it during the live feed observation," he mentioned. "Due to this, no editorial decision was made concerning the language as the team was unaware of its presence on the live feed."

Commenting on the incident where the racial slur was also called out during Wunmi Mosaku's reception of her Best Supporting Actress award, Davie added, "In this case, the editing team did capture the racial slur on the feed and promptly removed it from the version intended for that evening's broadcast, adhering to the set protocols and procedures."

He further clarified, "Both incidents occurred within a ten-minute window. Following the second instance, reports began coming in, including those from BAFTA, about a racial slur at the event. Our current understanding is that the edit team believed they had addressed the incident being cited, as they had caught and edited out the slur during the Best Supporting Actress segment. Hence, upon being informed of a racial slur, they assumed it had been managed."