The British Academy Film Awards and the BBC have issued apologies to Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo. Stars of the award-winning ‘Sinners’ were on stage presenting the BAFTA Award for Best Visual Effects when an audience member shouted a racial slur. Both the actors were taken aback and paused briefly after hearing the offensive slur from the audience. However, the ceremony did not stop as they continued to announce the first award of the evening in London.
It was later found that Tourette’s campaigner, John Davidson, involuntarily shouted the slur as the stars were up on stage. Moments after the incident, host Alan Cumming addressed it with a brief statement. He asked for ‘understanding’ from the audience members, indicating ‘strong language in the background’.
BAFTA issues apology: ‘We take full responsibility…’
BAFTA acknowledged the incident and revealed that Davidson, with Tourette’s syndrome himself, was indeed behind the incident. They shared that he later decided to leave the ceremony and continued watching it from a screen. However, according to a Variety report, Davidson returned to celebrate the win of Robert Aramayo, who won Best Actor, chronicling him in ‘I Swear’.
In a statement, BAFTA said, “We take full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation, and we apologise to all…We will learn from this and keep inclusion at the core of all we do, maintaining our belief in film and storytelling as a critical conduit for compassion and empathy.”
In the end they thanked Jordan and Lindo for their ‘incredible dignity and professionalism’, and similarly Davidson, who decided to leave the ceremony. “We would like to thank him for his dignity and consideration of others, on what should have been a night of celebration for him.”
This came after the BBC issued an apology for not beeping out the racial slur from their broadcast. The unedited version remained on the BBC iPlayer till Monday. In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said, “We apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”
According to BBC, Davidson opened up and said on Monday that he was “deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning”.
“I have spent my life trying to support and empower the Tourette’s community and to teach empathy, kindness and understanding from others and I will continue to do so,” John Davidon’s statement read. He added, “I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing.”
Google apologises for news alert
In addition to the BAFTA, Google also apologised for the news alert they sent after the BAFTA incident. A spokesperson from Google told the BBC, “We’re deeply sorry for this mistake. We’ve removed the offensive notification and are working to prevent this from happening again.” This came after the notification caused a stir on social media, and netizens claimed that a notification with the whole racial slur was sent out to the users because of their use of generative AI.
It came under the ‘see more’ option for several users, indicating a failure of Google’s security features, reported BBC. However, Google’s systems recognised the fault and took it back shortly afterwards. “What an interesting Black History month this has turned out to be,” social media creator Danny Price posted, the first one to report the Google News notification on social media. At the same time, the company acknowledged that it ‘shouldn’t have happened’ and that they are working on improving safety triggers and keywords.
The ‘BAFTA incident’: What really happened?
John Davidson, one of the attendees at the BAFTA Awards 2026 was invited for his documentary film ‘I Swear,’ based on his life with Tourette’s. Throughout his life he has battled with audible tics and dedicated his time to spreading awareness of the same.
According to the BAFTA statement, “John Davidson MBE, has Tourette’s syndrome and has devoted his life to educating and campaigning for better understanding of this condition. Tourette’s Syndrome causes involuntary verbal tics that the individual has no control over. Such tics are in no way a reflection of an individual’s beliefs and are not intentional.” They had ensured that those attending were made aware of Davidson’s involuntary tics that may or may not come with strong language or movement.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines the syndrome as “a condition of the nervous system that causes people to make sudden and repeated twitches, movements, or sounds, called ‘tics.’”
During the ceremony, the broadcasters did not beep out the slur, as it aired across the world. Later, the BBC, who provided the initial apology statement removed it from their version, available on the BBC iPlayer, the next day.
How did Lindo and Jordan react?
Daniel Lindo did not seem happy with the incident at the BAFTAs 2026. Speaking to Vanity Fair at the after-party, Lindo said, “We did what we had to do”. He expressed that he wished that someone from BAFTA spoke to them after the incident. There was no official comment from Michael B Jordan.