Bafta publish review into racial slur incident which highlights “structural weaknesses”
Bafta have issued a lengthy statement after the conclusion of an independent review into the incident involving tourette’s campaigner John Davidson and Sinners stars Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan.
At the ceremony, which took place on February 22nd in London, Davidson, who is the subject of the Bafta-winning film I Swear, involuntarily hurled the N-word at Lindo and Jordan, which was picked up on the BBC broadcast, despite not being aired live.
In light of the incident, Bafta commissioned an independent review by RISE Associates, which, the Board of Trustees said, “Identified a number of structural weaknesses in BAFTA’s planning, escalation procedures and crisis coordination arrangements.”
The statement adds of the independent review, “However, it did not find evidence of malicious intent on the part of those involved in delivering the event. We accept its conclusions in full which can be read below.”
Bafta also apologised to both communities impacted by the incident, writing, “We apologise unreservedly to the Black community, for whom the racist language used carries real pain, brutality, and trauma; to the disability community, including people with Tourette Syndrome, for whom this incident has led to unfair judgement, stigma, and distress; and to all our members, guests at the ceremony and those watching at home.”
The film insitution then conceded that what was “supposed to be a moment of celebration was diminished and overshadowed”.
They insist it was “not a failure of intent”, but admit they did “not adequately anticipate or fully prepare for the impact of such an incident in a live event environment”.
The Board of Trustees then looked to the future, tating they will “address the specific areas of improvement recommended in the review to reduce the risk of this happening again”.
Their message concluded, “We are determined to learn from what happened, and to ensure inclusion and belonging for all is meaningful in practice as well as in principle.”
It comes after the BBC published their own investigation into the incident earlier this week, which concluded “should not have made it to air and it was a clear breach of our editorial standards” and also “found the breach was not intentional”.
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