BBC upholds complaints over racial slur in Baftas broadcast

Incident During the Baftas Broadcast

A racial slur was inadvertently uttered during the Bafta Film Awards ceremony in February, prompting the BBC’s executive complaints unit (ECU) to determine it breached the corporation’s editorial standards. The word was shouted by a Tourette’s campaigner while actors Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented a category. The unedited sound was included in the delayed BBC One broadcast and remained accessible on iPlayer for the following day.

ECU’s Findings and Statement

On Wednesday, BBC chief content officer Kate Phillips confirmed the ECU found the incident “should not have made it to air” and “clearly breached editorial standards.” However, the unit emphasized the error was unintentional. The report stated: “The inclusion of the n-word in the broadcast… was highly offensive, had no editorial justification, and represented a breach of our standards, but the breach was not intentional.”

“The production team did not hear the n-word at the time it was said and therefore no decision was taken to leave the word within the broadcast,” Phillips explained. She added, “The ECU accepted this was a genuine mistake, especially as the team correctly identified and edited out a subsequent use of the same word, following pre-event protocols.”

Complaints and Reactions

The ECU received “a large number of complaints” about the coverage and upheld those related to harm and offense. Last month, outgoing director general Tim Davie acknowledged the BBC “profoundly regrets” the oversight, noting the editing team was unaware of the word. Meanwhile, Culture secretary Lisa Nandy condemned the broadcast as “completely unacceptable and harmful,” while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called it “a horrible mistake.”

“The BBC should have worked harder to prevent anything that I said from being aired,” said Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson. He also questioned why he was seated near a microphone. Bafta ceremony host Alan Cumming apologized for the “trauma-triggering” show.

Apology and Remedial Measures

Phillips highlighted that the delay in removing the unedited recording from iPlayer was a “serious mistake,” as it amplified the impact of the inadvertent inclusion. “The fact the unedited version stayed up overnight made the severe impact of the n-word worse,” the report noted. The BBC has since outlined steps to strengthen pre-event planning, live production, and iPlayer takedown procedures to avoid similar issues.