The BBC claims in a new letter that the team editing video footage of the 2026 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) did not hear the racial slurs said by John Davidson to Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo
NEED TO KNOW
The Tourette syndrome activist said the n-word while the Sinners stars were onstage at the awards show on Feb. 22
The BBC said the airing of the slurs was "a genuine mistake" and the company takes "full responsibility for our error"
The team editing video footage of the2026 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs)did not hear racial slurs said byTourette syndromeactivistJohn DavidsontoMichael B. JordanandDelroy Lindo, the BBC claims.
During the annual awards show on Feb. 22, Jordan, 39, and Lindo, 73, were presenting an accolade on stage when Davidson, 54 — who began experiencing symptoms of Tourette syndrome, which causes involuntary verbal and physical tics, at age 12 —yelled the n-word. (Davidson was invited to the ceremony to represent the filmI Swear,which is based on his life and experiences with the nervous system disorder.)
In alettersent to the U.K.'s Culture, Media & Sport Committee (CMSC) on Friday, March 6, Tim Davie, the director general of the BBC, shared more insight into the situation. The company aired the racial slur incident at the BAFTAs on BBC One with a two-hour delay, and the ceremony remained on iPlayer, the BBC's on-demand video service, until the following morning.
"I want to assure you that the BBC profoundly regrets the events around the broadcast of the BAFTAs," Davie, 58, began. "The BBC has apologized for the serious mistake that was made, in allowing a racial slur to be broadcast and then remain on iPlayer overnight and into Monday morning. We understand the hurt and shock that the mistake caused."
"I'd like to make clear: although the racial slur was symptomatic of a disability and an involuntary tic, it should never have been broadcast. It was a genuine mistake, and we take full responsibility for our error," continued the British media executive, who resigned from his position in November following allegations that the BBC edited a speech by PresidentDonald Trumpsurrounding theU.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6. (He isset to be replaced by Rhodri Talfan Davies in April.)
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In his letter, Davie also said "a number of questions" were asked in the aftermath of the racial slur incident, including why the use of the n-word was not edited out, but other parts of the broadcast had been.
"Although this is the subject of ongoing review, our initial evidence gathering has found that no one in the on-site broadcast truck heard this when they were watching the live feed," he wrote. "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."
Referring to the instance when the racial slur was later shouted once more, whenWunmi Mosakuaccepted her Best Supporting Actress award, Davie said, "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."
He further explained, "These two incidents happened within ten minutes of each other. It appears that soon after the second incident, the edit team in the truck started receiving reports, including from BAFTA, that a racial slur had been shouted during the ceremony. 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."
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According to Davie, "Other edits were made to the ceremony before broadcast – some were made in line with the protocols we had put in place in advance to deal with offensive language. Other edits were made for other purposes – for example, length of speeches to cut the show to its allotted broadcast slot."
"This is standard practice for live events and awards shows of this nature. Following broadcast on BBC One, further reports, including on social media, drew attention to the first instance of the racial slur. Our current understanding is that the on-site team did not believe that the slur was audible on the broadcast, and the show remained on iPlayer unedited that evening," he added.
Davie also said that "the decision for the ceremony to remain on iPlayer was reviewed" and was "escalated to the Chief Content Officer, who authorised the removal of the broadcast from iPlayer."
"We are now looking in more detail why the team did not ascertain sooner that there had been two instances of the use of the racial slur, and why post broadcast further action was not taken to edit or remove the programme from iPlayer sooner," he continued.
In the aftermath of the racial slur incident, the organization behind the BAFTAsformally apologized to Jordan and Lindo, and the latter has spoken out about the incident on several occasions since. (Jordan has not yet spoken publicly about the situation.)
Davidson, meanwhile, has opened up about and apologized for his use of the racial slur. In a March 1Facebook post, he said, "Whilst I will never apologize for having Tourette syndrome, I will apologize for any pain, upset and misunderstanding that it may create."
Looking ahead, Davie said in his letter that the BBC is working to make sure a similar instance does not happen again in the future.
"The BBC will learn lessons from this incident and ensure appropriate action is taken to avoid such an incident happening again," he wrote.
Representatives for Jordan and Lindo did not immediately respond on Sunday, March 6, to PEOPLE's request for comment on the BBC's letter, nor did StudioCanal, the film company that distributedI Swearand has been in contact with Davidson.
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