BBC Director General Tim Davie explained how a racial slur against the cast of “Sinners” made it into the time-delayed broadcast of the 2026 EE BAFTAs last month and why it remained on streamer iPlayer overnight.
“I want to assure you that the BBC profoundly regrets the events around the broadcast of the BAFTAs on Sunday 22 February. The BBC has apologised for the serious mistake that was made, in allowing a racial slur to be broadcast and then remain on iPlayer overnight and into Monday morning. We understand the hurt and shock that the mistake caused,” he began his letter to U.K. Culture, Media and Sport Committee Chair Dame Caroline Dinenage on Friday. “I’d like to make clear: although the racial slur was symptomatic of a disability and an involuntary tic, it should never have been broadcast. It was a genuine mistake, and we take full responsibility for our error.”
Davie went on to say that the BBC team on-site simply did not hear “I Swear” subject and EP John Davidson use the N-word against Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo at the ceremony. However, they did catch the Tourette syndrome advocate’s tic against Wunmi Mosaku within 10 minutes of the first incident.
“Our understanding at this point is that the team editing the show in the truck mistakenly believed they had edited out the incident that was being referenced, on the basis that they had heard and edited out the slur shouted out during the Best Supporting Actress award,” he continued. “Therefore, when they were told a racial slur had been shouted, they believed they had removed it.”
The Director General also offered a timeline of how the BBC did eventually learn of their mistake and edit it out of the re-broadcast. He even shared the arrangements the network made with the BAFTAs to mitigate possible outbursts from Davidson — including briefing the audience in advance, preparing lines for host Alan Cumming to say and promising edits on any applicable swears.
“We are now looking in more detail into why we did not pick up sooner that there had been two instances of the use of the racial slur, and why, post the broadcast, further action was not taken to edit or remove the programme from iPlayer,” Davie concluded. “The BBC will learn lessons from this incident and ensure appropriate action is taken to avoid such an incident happening again.”
The BBC boss, however, did not address “Sinners” production designer Hannah Beachler saying she experienced a similar third incident that night after the ceremony on the way to dinner. Davidson, for his part, has publicly apologized.
Davie is set to leave his role as BBC Director General in April (alongside BBC News CEO Deborah Turness) after announcing his resignation in November due to the network’s editing of a documentary on President Donald Trump.
