BBC in Hot Water for Broadcasting N-Word at Baftas Despite Warner Bros “Immediately” Asking for it to Be Removed

The BBC is in hot water after it aired the n-word during the Bafta Film Awards on Sunday despite a two-hour broadcast delay and Warner Bros “raising immediate concerns” and requesting its removal. The Mail has the story.

Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson could be heard shouting as black Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the award for special visual effects.

Davidson said he is “deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning”, while the BBC apologised for not editing it out. 

But questions are mounting over the handling of the incident at the Royal Festival Hall and why the slur remained in Sunday’s broadcast, which aired with a two-hour delay.

Now, it is understood people from Warner Bros, the film studio behind Sinners, spoke directly with Bafta staff following the incident during the ceremony in London and requested it be removed from the broadcast, which aired on the BBC later that night.

Warner Bros representatives are also believed to have been reassured this request would be passed on and Bafta was in touch with the studio throughout the evening.

Also today Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent Central, accused the BBC of “an obvious bias” and a “failure of duty of care”, insisting the slur “should never have been aired”.

The politician described its broadcast as “painful and unforgivable” and has written to outgoing Director-General Tim Davie asking for an explanation on why it was left in.

Warner Bros, the BBC, production company Penny Lane and Bafta have all been contacted for comment by the Daily Mail.

Meanwhile, film-maker Jonte Richardson has said he is stepping down as a Bafta judge over the academy’s handling of the incident.

In a statement on LinkedIn, Richardson said: “After considerable soul-searching, I feel compelled to withdraw from the Bafta emerging talent judging panel.” …

His resignation came before Davidson released a statement of his own, saying he was “deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning”.

The campaigner confirmed he chose to leave the auditorium early as he was “aware of the distress my tics were causing”.

Worth reading in full.

Liberals are “at war with each other” over the incident, says Dolly Busby in the Mail, with some condemning Davidson and others rushing to his defence:

Out of nowhere, a member of the audience yelled the N-word into the auditorium, visibly stunning both Lindo, 74, and Jordan, 39, before the pair quickly composed themselves.

It later emerged the slur had been shouted by Tourette’s sufferer John Davidson, 54 – a campaigner for those living with the disability. Davidson was in attendance because the film I Swear, up for five prizes on Sunday evening, is inspired by his experience living with the condition.

Sadly, however, the appalled and often unsympathetic reaction to his outburst suggests that understanding of Tourette’s may have some way to go.

In the film, Davidson is portrayed by breakout Hull-born star Robert Aramayo – who won the Bafta for best actor in a surprise victory over Hollywood giants Timothee Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio.

It wasn’t even Davidson’s first unfortunate heckle of the night: He could also be heard shouting, ‘Shut the f*** up!’ during the introductory speech from Bafta chairman, Sara Putt. (Contrary to reports in the US media, Bafta attendees had been warned that Davidson might say something inappropriate due to his condition.)

Controversially, the BBC failed to edit out the racial slur when it broadcast the ceremony on BBC1 two hours later, and also included the word in the footage uploaded to its streaming platform iPlayer. This meant that millions of viewers tuning in to the BBC could still hear the word until at least midday yesterday when, under mounting pressure, the broadcaster edited out the offensive comment from its iPlayer recording. (Needless to say, the uncensored clip had already gone viral online.)

Bafta may have hoped sending event host Alan Cumming on stage in the second half to apologise “if [the outburst] has caused offence” would be sufficient to quell the upset. Fat chance. It was too little, too late to dampen the growing outrage.

Lindo and Jordan, who both star in Sinners (which received 13 nominations), did not comment on stage. Lindo later told Vanity Fair magazine that he and Jordan “did what we had to do” while presenting but added that he wished “someone from Bafta had spoken to us afterwards”.

Davidson left the auditorium 20 minutes after his involuntary remarks, with Bafta stressing he had not been asked to leave.

The scandal has made huge waves in America, where – given the country’s history of slavery and segregation – the word is arguably even more incendiary than it is here. Several black American actors commented on the debate yesterday, with few showing much understanding of Davidson’s plight.

Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx, 58, branded the outburst “unacceptable”, scoffing: “Out of all the words you could’ve said, Tourette’s makes you say that. Nah, he meant that s***.”

Wendell Pierce, who starred in the critically acclaimed series The Wire alongside Jordan, added: “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 [sic] for the racist slur.”

However, disability activists rallied behind Davidson – who developed the condition when he was 12 – arguing his tics are involuntary and, crucially, that the nature of Tourette’s is often such that sufferers say the most offensive thing possible at any moment.

After all, when Davidson’s car was being searched by police on his entry to Buckingham Palace in 2019, he yelled: “A bomb! I’ve got a f***ing bomb!” When meeting the late Elizabeth II herself, he screamed: “F*** the Queen!” …

Amid the drama, Left-wing campaigners appeared unable to work out whose side they should take – that of Davidson, a working-class white man who suffers from a lifelong disability, or that of the black actors, some of them millionaires, offended by his outburst.

Activist Ash Sarkar, a self-styled communist, said: “What happened last night at the Baftas is a genuine example of competing rights – on the one hand, including someone with a disability who has every right to attend, and on the other, protecting people from being assailed by racial slurs. I honestly don’t know how anyone’s meant to square that.”