BBC Upholds Complaints Over Racial Slur in Baftas Broadcast
The BBC has acknowledged a significant breach of its editorial standards following the broadcast of a racial slur during the Bafta Film Awards. The incident, which occurred in February, involved an involuntary shout from a Tourette syndrome campaigner during the live ceremony, which was subsequently aired on BBC One with a two-hour delay and remained available on iPlayer.
Unintentional Breach, Serious Oversight
Kate Phillips, the BBC's chief content officer, confirmed that the Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) found the inclusion of the offensive language to be a "clear breach of our editorial standards". However, she noted the breach was "not intentional", with the production team failing to hear the word at the time it was spoken. This led to it being inadvertently included in the broadcast.
Furthermore, the ECU criticised the decision to leave the unedited recording on iPlayer until the following morning. This was deemed a "serious mistake", aggravating the offence caused by the initial broadcast. Phillips explained that a "lack of clarity" among the team regarding the word's audibility contributed to the delay in removing the content.
BBC's Apology and Future Measures
The BBC has since apologised directly to actors Michael B Jordan, Delroy Lindo, and Wunmi Mosaku, as well as Tourette's activist John Davidson, whose life story inspired a nominated film. Phillips stated that the BBC "must learn from our mistakes" and outlined measures to improve pre-event planning, live event production, and iPlayer takedown processes to prevent similar incidents.
Separately, the ECU dismissed complaints regarding the editing out of "Free Palestine" from an acceptance speech, citing time restrictions for broadcast as the principal reason.