With N-word incident, Bafta have shot themselves in the foot

In not editing out Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson’s shouted tics, Bafta have allowed their successful diversity drive to be overshadowed

Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo, were presenting a prize.

Bafta’s error was big on Sunday night - but it was in the editing, or the lack of. No one could have stopped John Davidson - who has Tourette syndrome - yelling out the N-word while two black actors, Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo, were presenting a prize. But given that they did use the two-hour time delay to judiciously remove Akinola Davies Jr’s shout of “Free Palestine!” and Alan Cumming’s comparison of the themes of Zootropolis 2 (“Lies, corrupt leaders, poisoning and persecution of a race”) to contemporary America, it seems a perverse decision not to remove an appalling slur, yelled involuntarily, from the TV broadcast.

Not least because it inevitably overshadows what should have been the big story: #BaftasSoWhite can (probably) be put to bed. As a reminder: the hashtag trended most critically in 2020, when no nominees of colour were up for any acting awards, leading to a massive overhaul of Bafta’s rules, regulations and membership demographic. Few organisations have done such radical work – the Oscars and certainly the Globes stagger way behind – yet few are still so perennially lambasted for choices that their members persist in sticking to.