BBC says broadcast of racial slur at Baftas was 'genuine mistake'

The BBC has said the broadcast of a racial slur shouted at the Bafta Film Awards ceremony was the result of a "genuine mistake", and is examining why it was not removed from iPlayer sooner. Tourette's campaigner John Davidson involuntarily shouted a racial slur while Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting one of the categories. The shout was not edited out of the subsequent TV broadcast, which aired on BBC One on a two-hour delay, and the ceremony remained on iPlayer until Monday morning. Director general Tim Davie said the BBC "profoundly regrets" what happened, adding that the team editing the ceremony had not heard the word and did not intentionally leave it in. The racial slur was audible to those in attendance and for some viewers at home, although the sound quality was muffled. "Our initial evidence gathering has found that no-one in the on-site broadcast truck heard this when they were watching the live feed," Davie said in a letter to Dame Caroline Dinenage, the chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. "Because no-one in the broadcast truck was aware it was on the live feed, there was therefore no editorial decision made to leave the languag

Mar 6, 2026 → Mar 24, 2026