‘We did what we had to do,’  Delroy Lindo says of him and Michael B. Jordan after racial slur shouted during the BAFTA

 Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo gave a masterclass on grace after a BAFTA attendee with tourettes yelled a racial slur.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely seen the words BAFTA all over your social media feeds as users share their outrage for the racial slur that was heard during the airing of the pre-recorded ceremony. Yesterday, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) aired its 2026 ceremony. And while the evening was filled with notable wins from Black stars like Ryan Coogler, who became the first Black person to win the BAFTA Award for best original screenplay, and Wunmi Mosaku, who won the best supporting actress award, all eyes have been focused on an uncomfortable 20-second moment that was a stark reminder of the realities Black communities continue to face. 

As Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo took the stage to present the first award of the evening, viewers heard someone shout out the n-word ( with a hard “er”) during the pre-recorded broadcast. Lindo and Jordan, who, despite visibly tensing up, continued on to present the “Best Visual Effects” award. Following the tense moment, Lindo told Vanity Fair that he and his “Sinners” co-star “did what we had to do,” though they wished “someone from BAFTA spoke to us afterward.” 

Shortly after the incident, the BBC, which aired the award ceremony, released a statement acknowledging the moment:  “Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the Bafta Film Awards. This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony, it was not intentional.”

However, viewers were further outraged when they discovered the program, which was pre-recorded and aired to the public on a two-hour delay. Similarly, a playback of the recording with the slur was available on the BBC’s iPlayer up until Monday. 

“We apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast, and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer,” the network added in a separate statement. 

In addition to the BBC’s apology, John Davidson who says he shouted the slur as a result of his Tourette’s syndrome, addressed the incident on stage later in the evening: “You may have noticed some strong language in the background. This can be part of how Tourette’s syndrome shows up for some people as the film explores that experience. Thanks for your understanding and for helping create a respectful space for everyone.”

However, just as social media users were filled with mixed reactions to the incident, Hannah Beachler, a production designer on “Sinners” gave further context into what happened that evening. 

“I keep trying to write about what happened at the BAFTAs, and I can’t find the words,” she wrote on X. “The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show.” 

“And a third time at a Black woman. I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation. I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through. But what made the situation worse was the throw-away apology of ‘if you were offended’ at the end of the show,” she continued. “Of course, we were offended…but our frequency, our spiritual vibration is tuned to a higher level than what happened. I am not steel, this did not bounce off of me, but I exist above it. It can’t take away from who I am as an artist.”