Two weeks after the racist fiasco at the BAFTAs, and we’re still learning terrible new information. During the taping of the BAFTAs on February 22nd, John Davidson was seated (by his own account) about forty rows back and close to some kind of microphone. Davidson has Tourette’s, and he was invited to the BAFTAs because a film about his life, I Swear, was up for several awards. Davidson began ticcing very early into the awards show. Something I just learned is that Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were the first presenters of the show. Soon after they walked up to the podium, Davidson loudly screamed the n-word at them. BAFTA’s producers refused to offer any explanation, comfort or care to MBJ and Delroy following that moment, and even though the show was on a two-hour delay, the BBC still aired the racist slur. We also learned, via Hannah Beachler’s tweets after the BAFTAs, that Davidson also ticced the same racist slur at her and another woman.
Well, here’s what we’ve learned since the first week this complete fiasco: Davidson stayed in the auditorium after he ticced that racist slur at Lindo and MBJ, and he also ticced the same racist slur at Wunmi Mosaku when she won the Best Supporting Actress BAFTA. That was mentioned in passing in a Deadline piece several days ago, and I wondered if Deadline had gotten it wrong since we hadn’t heard that before. But no, it’s true. Davidson was still in the room and he involuntarily shouted the n-word at a pregnant woman who was receiving her first BAFTA Film award. Why is this coming out now? Because the BBC is using the slur directed at Mosaku to explain why they missed the one directed at Jordan and Lindo.
BBC director-general Tim Davie has answered questions from the U.K. government’s Culture, Media & Sport Committee over the incident that erupted following the BAFTA ceremony in which the shouting out of a racial slur was aired despite the broadcast being on a two-hour time delay.
In what has unfortunately come to overshadow the 2026 awards, John Davidson, the Tourette’s campaigner and inspiration for film “I Swear,” made the involuntary outburst while “Sinners” stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the first award of the night. The incident sparked a firestorm of anger, much focussed on the BBC for not removing Davidson’s tic from its broadcast.
In a letter to committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage, Davie sought to explain the events of the evening to clarify why the N-word outburst was not edited out, asserting that it was a “genuine mistake, and we take full responsibility for our error.”
Davie said that the BBC’s “initial evidence gathering” found that no-one in the on-site broadcast truck heard the initial when they were watching the live feed. “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 language in,” he said. However, he noted that a second outburst of the word occurred while Wunmi Mosaku accepted her best supporting actress award.
“In that instance, the edit team did hear the racial slur on the feed and removed it immediately from the version of the ceremony that would be broadcast later that evening. This was in line with protocols and procedures that were in place for this event.”
The mistake occurred, he claimed, when the edit team started receiving reports about a racial slur, “including from BAFTA.” He said: “Our understanding at this point is that the team editing the show in the truck mistakenly believed they had edited out the incident that was being referenced, on the basis that they had heard and edited out the slur shouted out during the best supporting actress award. Therefore, when they were told a racial slur had been shouted, they believed they had removed it.”
I actually understand this explanation from the BBC, god help me – they were being told about a racist slur and they thought, “yeah, we’ve got it, we’re editing it out.” And the whole time the BBC thought it would be crazy for BAFTA to allow Davidson to continue ticcing racist slurs at people in the room. Screaming the n-word – even involuntarily – should ensure a quick escort out of the room. The fact that Davidson was allowed to continue sitting there and he was the one who chose to leave the auditorium after he involuntarily racially abused FOUR PEOPLE that we know about, well, it doesn’t speak well to BAFTA’s existing policies. It’s truly astounding that it took so long for BAFTA and the BBC to both apologize and admit mistakes.
Now, that being said, I’m not excusing the BBC whatsoever- this explanation of “we didn’t hear it” is bullsh-t. But as I’ve said before, focusing on whether or not the BBC edited out racist slurs is missing the forest for the trees – the real issue is why BAFTA was perfectly fine with allowing Wunmi Mosaku, Michael B. Jordan, Delroy Lindo and Hannah Beachler to be racially abused at a f–king awards show as they were celebrating their film among their colleagues.
Meanwhile, Deadline reported that Warner Bros executives were “furious” in a meeting with the BBC just days after the BAFTAs. Those American executives apparently read those British folks the riot act. I hope Warner Bros saved some of that anger for BAFTA’s higher-ups too. And this conspiracy of silence around the racist slur when Mosaku was on stage is deeply unsettling.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, screencap courtesy of ABC.
