The BBC has admitted breaching its editorial standards after broadcasting a racial slur during the Bafta awards ceremony in February. The corporation's executive complaints unit (ECU) found that the inclusion of the N-word, shouted by Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson, was 'highly offensive' and had 'no editorial justification', though the breach was deemed unintentional.
The slur occurred as actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan presented an award for the film 'Sinners'. The BBC failed to remove the broadcast from iPlayer until the following morning, which the ECU described as a 'serious mistake' that 'aggravated the offence'. Producers monitoring the live feed did not hear the word, deeming it 'extremely indistinct', but the ECU noted that a complaint received during the broadcast indicated it was not entirely unintelligible.
BBC chief content officer Kate Phillips apologised directly to Lindo, Jordan, and Davidson, as well as to 'Sinners' star Wunmi Mosaku. She acknowledged the 'hurt and upset' caused and pledged to strengthen pre-event risk assessments and monitoring processes for live events. The BBC also said it would re-communicate internal procedures for removing content from iPlayer.
The ECU separately rejected complaints that the BBC had misapplied impartiality rules by editing out remarks including 'free Palestine' from Akinola Davies Jr's acceptance speech, while retaining the slur. It found the editing was due to time constraints rather than impartiality considerations.
