BBC says "breach of editorial standards" at BAFTA Film Awards was unintentional, explains delay removing it from iPlayer

The broadcast of a racial slur during the BBC’s coverage of the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards breached its editorial standards but in a way that was "unintentional", an investigation has found.

During the ceremony in February, Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson involuntarily said a racial slur while Sinners stars Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were on stage.

The broadcast remained on iPlayer overnight before being taken down.

On Wednesday (8 April), the BBC's chief content officer Kate Phillips said that the corporation's executive complaints unit (ECU) found that “the inclusion of the n-word in the broadcast (which was also streamed live on iPlayer) was highly offensive, had no editorial justification and represented a breach of the BBC’s editorial standards”, but added that the breach was "unintentional".

The ECU added that leaving the coverage containing the slur on iPlayer until the Monday morning was also a "serious mistake" and breached guidelines.

"The fact that the unedited recording remained available for so long aggravated the offence caused by the inadvertent inclusion of the n-word in the broadcast," the report said.

“There was a lack of clarity among the team as to whether the n-word was audible on the recording,” the BBC said of the delay to remove the coverage from iPlayer.

"This resulted in there being a delay before a decision was taken to remove the recording from iPlayer; that decision was not taken until approximately 9:30 the following morning. In the ECU’s view, this delay was a serious mistake, because there could be no certainty that the word would be inaudible to all viewers.”

Phillips said that the BBC "must learn from our mistakes" and set out measures to improve pre-event planning and production at live events, as well as iPlayer takedown processes.

She added that she has since sent letters of apology to Lindo and Jordan.

Following the incident back in February, Davidson said in a statement that he was "deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning".

He continued: "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.

"I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing."

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