BAFTA publicly apologizes for N-Word incident after failing to contact
After a Tourette syndrome advocate yelled the N-word at “Sinners” actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan during Sunday’s BAFTA Awards, Lindo said event organizers did not communicate that night about What happened. The organization later issued a public apology acknowledging the “harm” caused by the incident.
John Davidson, the inspiration for the BAFTA-nominated biopic “I Swear,” interrupted the ceremony with several involuntary outbursts of expletives and insults, a symptom of the nervous system disorder.
According to Variety, the audience could hear someone shout the N-word while Jordan and Lindo were on stage presenting the award for Best Visual Effects.
At other points during the show, the words “shut the fuck up” echoed during a speech by BAFTA president Sara Putt, and a “fuck you” interrupted the acceptance speech of the winners of the award for Best Children and Family Film.
Stuart Wilson/BAFTA via Getty Images
The interruptions prompted an explanation and apology from presenter Alan Cumming, who told attendees: “Tourette’s syndrome is a disability and the tics you’ve heard tonight are involuntary, meaning that the person who has Tourette’s syndrome has no control over their language. We apologize if you feel offended tonight.”
But according to Lindo, the people behind the BAFTAs didn’t immediately offer him and his co-star Jordan the same courtesy on the night of the event.
While speaking to Vanity Fair at a Warner Bros. after-party, the Oscar nominee said he and Jordan “did what we had to do,” but he wished “someone from BAFTA would talk to us afterward.”
On Monday morning, BAFTA issued a public statement saying: “Our guests heard very offensive language that brings unparalleled trauma and pain to so many people. We want to acknowledge the harm this has caused, address what happened and apologize to everyone.”
Officials initially apologized to people who heard the insult during BBC One’s broadcast of the event, which aired two hours later, in which the moment was not censored or edited. However, the broadcast omitted director Akinola Davies Jr.’s call for “Free Palestine” during his speech for his outstanding British debut, according to Deadline.
I keep trying to write about what happened at the BAFTAs and I can’t find the words. The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at me on the way to dinner after the show.
– HannahBeachler (@HannahEBeachler) February 23, 2026
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In a statement on Monday, John Davidson explained that the insult he shouted during the event was involuntary and not a “reflection of my personal beliefs.”
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Presenter Alan Cumming emphasized that the outbursts of profanity and name-calling were unintentional and apologized for any offense the language may have caused.
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Tourette syndrome is very misunderstood. Here’s what experts and advocates want you to know.
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I keep trying to write about what happened at the BAFTAs and I can’t find the words. The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at me on the way to dinner after the show.
– HannahBeachler (@HannahEBeachler) February 23, 2026
In an
“I keep trying to write about what happened at the BAFTAs and I can’t find the words,” her post read. “The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at me on the way to dinner after the show.”
“And for the third time to a black woman. I deeply understand and know why this is an impossible situation,” Beachler continued. “I know we should handle this with grace and move on. But what made the situation worse was the throwaway ‘if you were offended’ apology at the end of the show.”
“Of course, we were offended… but our frequency, our spiritual vibration is tuned to a higher level than what happened. I’m not steel; this didn’t bounce off of me, but I exist above it. It can’t take away from who I am as an artist.”