The BBC said it had ordered an internal investigation of its Sunday broadcast of the BAFTAs, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, after it aired a racist slur uttered involuntarily by a man with Tourette’s syndrome.
The man, John Davidson, who was in the audience because a movie about his life was nominated for awards, shouted the slur while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, two Black stars of the film “Sinners,” were onstage presenting an award. Mr. Davidson had shouted offensive remarks earlier in the awards show, and BAFTA had announced to the audience before the ceremony that attendees might see and hear strong language, involuntary noises or movements during the awards.
But the broadcast of the remark has led to questions about the responsibility and judgment of those involved, and to public conversations about racism, insensitivity and the broader treatment of people with disabilities. Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological condition that causes involuntary tics, in some cases including making obscene gestures and uttering offensive remarks.
The BBC apologized to viewers in a statement on Monday and to its staff a day later for not editing the slur out of its broadcast, which aired on a two-hour delay. In the apology email to staff on Tuesday, Kate Phillips, the BBC’s chief content officer, said that broadcasting the slur had been a mistake.
“We understand how distressing this was,” she said. The edit team, she said in the email, had removed another racist slur from the broadcast, but the slur that remained in the broadcast was “aired in error.”
Ms. Phillips said that she asked for the broadcast to be taken down from the BBC’s online streaming platform, iPlayer, after realizing that the slur was audible. “We take full responsibility for what happened,” she said. The broadcast was not available on iPlayer as of Wednesday afternoon.
Organizers of the BAFTA Film Awards apologized in a statement on Monday, acknowledging that slur carried “incomparable trauma and pain.” The organization said it apologized “unreservedly” to Mr. Jordan and Mr. Lindo. “We would like to thank Michael and Delroy for their incredible dignity and professionalism,” it said. In a letter on Tuesday to members, BAFTA executives added that a “comprehensive review” of the episode was underway.
“We take full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation and we apologize to all,” BAFTA said in its statement.
The BBC did not respond to questions about whether it had apologized to Mr. Jordan and Mr. Lindo.
In the days since the broadcast, critics of the BBC and others have demanded explanations of how a night of celebration turned into a painful and offensive moment.
The slur should have been censored, said Kemi Badenoch, the leader of Britain’s Conservative Party, in a Monday interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain. “The BBC made a mistake — a horrible mistake,” said Ms. Badonech, adding that the two actors, Mr. Jordan and Mr. Lindo, deserved “the biggest apology.”
Another British lawmaker, from the center-left Labour Party, Dawn Butler, said on X that she had written a letter to the broadcaster’s director general asking for an explanation. Ms. Butler noted that while the offensive slur was broadcast, other segments had been censored, including part of a speech in which the filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. said, “Free Palestine.”
The BBC reported that producers overseeing the ceremony, working from a TV truck, had not heard the slur shouted during Mr. Jordan and Mr. Lindo’s presentation.
Mr. Davidson, a Scottish activist who has worked to raise awareness of Tourette’s syndrome, attended the awards as an executive producer of a film, “I Swear,” based on his life. His team told Variety that he had reached out to apologize to Mr. Jordan, Mr. Lindo and Hannah Beachler, the production designer for “Sinners” who wrote online that she had also been subject to a slur after the ceremony.
In an interview with Variety, Mr. Davidson said that organizers had communicated to him that any swearing would be edited from the broadcast. As his involuntary tics ramped up, Mr. Davidson said that he felt “a wave of shame and embarrassment.” He decided to leave the auditorium and watch the awards from a private room “to not cause more upset,” he said.
“I can’t begin to explain how upset and distraught I have been as the impact from Sunday sinks in,” Mr. Davidson said.
Alex Marshall contributed reporting.
Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends.
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