Culture Secretary welcomes investigation into BBC Bafta broadcast

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has welcomed the launch of a BBC investigation after it broadcast a racial slur during its coverage of the Baftas.

Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson could be heard shouting as Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the award for special visual effects during the ceremony at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday.

The corporation’s executive complaints unit (ECU) announced a “fast-tracked investigation” on Wednesday, saying it was a “serious mistake”.

Later on Wednesday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she shared the “serious concerns raised by so many people” following the broadcast and had spoken to outgoing BBC director-general Tim Davie about the matter.

She added: “I welcome the launch of a full investigation by the BBC. Broadcasting a racial slur is completely unacceptable and harmful.

“The BBC must ensure that this never happens again.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC has been reviewing what happened at Bafta on Sunday evening.

“This was a serious mistake and the director-general has instructed the executive complaints unit (ECU) to complete a fast-tracked investigation and provide a full response to complainants.”

Additionally, on Wednesday the Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMS) wrote to Mr Davie “seeking an explanation” for how a racial slur ended up in the broadcast “in spite of a two-hour time delay”.

Referencing Glastonbury Festival coverage, chairwoman of the CMS Committee Dame Caroline Dinenage said the “latest incident raises questions about the extent to which lessons have been learned and about the controls and systems you have in place to prevent such incidents”.

Mr Davidson was at the Baftas representing the film I Swear, which tells the story of the Scottish campaigner’s life with the condition, which he developed when he was 12.

John Davidson attending the 79th British Academy Film Awards PA Media

In an interview with Variety, he said the BBC should have “worked harder” to ensure his racial slur was not broadcast.

He told the publication: “Bafta had made us all aware that any swearing would be edited out of the broadcast.

“I have made four documentaries with the BBC in the past and feel that they should have been aware of what to expect from Tourette’s, and worked harder to prevent anything that I said — which, after all, was some 40 rows back from the stage — from being included in the broadcast.”

Film studio Warner Bros is also believed to have raised immediate concerns about the racial slur and requested it be removed from the BBC broadcast, the Press Association understands, but it could still be heard when it aired two hours later.

The BBC has apologised for not editing the racial slur out of the broadcast and subsequently removed it from the version on iPlayer.

Bafta also issued an apology in the aftermath in which they said they “apologise unreservedly” to the actors who were on stage as well as “all those impacted”.