Lisa Nandy says BBC airing racial slur during Baftas was “unacceptable and harmful”
The UK’s Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy MP, has welcomed the launch of a BBC investigation after it aired a broadcast of the Baftas which included a racial slur, a move she deemed “unacceptable and harmful”.
A critical wave of backlash has hit the BBC after the organisation failed to edit out the N-word, shouted by Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson in the direction of Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo, who were on stage to present the first award of the night.
Davidson was in attendance as it was his life that had inspired the movie I Swear, which saw Robert Aramayo take home the coveted ‘Best Actor’ award on the night. After the incident, Davidson removed himself from the ceremony, and has since said he is “mortified” by the tic, which he has no control over.
Three days after the incident, the BBC’s executive complaints unit announced that an official “fast-tracked investigation” had been launched into the “serious mistake”.
Now, Nandy has weighed in on the matter, revealing that she has done her duty to share the “serious concerns raised by so many people” following the broadcast.
Nandy also added that she has spoken to outgoing BBC director-general Tim Davie about the incident, adding, “I welcome the launch of a full investigation by the BBC. Broadcasting a racial slur is completely unacceptable and harmful.”
She added firmly, “The BBC must ensure that this never happens again.”
Adding fuel to this fire, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee has revealed that it has also reached out to Davie “seeking an explanation” for the editorial choice “in spite of a two-hour time delay”.
Chairwoman, Dame Caroline Dinenage, has added that the “latest incident raises questions about the extent to which lessons have been learned and about the controls and systems you have in place to prevent such incidents.”
Dineage was referencing last summer’s Glastonbury Festival, where the organisation again came under fire for airing the politically-charged set from punk duo Bob Vylan in which they chanted “death, death to the IDF.”
Davidson himself has also criticised the BBC for the broadcast, which was left up for over twelve hours before being taken down for re-editing. He said, “I have made four documentaries with the BBC in the past and feel that they should have been aware of what to expect from Tourette’s, and worked harder to prevent anything that I said — which, after all, was some 40 rows back from the stage — from being included in the broadcast.”
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