The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has made another attempt to control the damage from the on-air racial slur incident at Sunday’s BAFTA Awards, releasing a new letter from Chair Sara Putt and CEO Jane Millichip that promised a “comprehensive review” of the organization’s policies on Tuesday (via Variety).
BAFTA has been heavily criticized for its handling of a situation in which Tourette Syndrome activist John Davidson involuntarily yelled the n-word while “Sinners” stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented an award on stage early in the ceremony. While many have acknowledged the complex intersection of racial sensitivity and accommodation for disabilities and the fact that the actual outburst may have been unavoidable, the organization has come under fire for the decision to air the slur in the TV broadcast and its lack of initial outreach to Jordan and Lindo afterwards.
The new letter comes after shorter apologetic statements from BAFTA and Davidson were published on Monday. The BBC has also apologized for airing the remark.
The letter can be read below in its entirety.
We would like to address the situation that arose during the EE BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday night, in which highly offensive language that carries incomparable trauma and pain for so many was heard. We issued a statement last night, and we want members to hear from us directly, too. Please find our public statement here.
We recognise this has impacted members in a multitude of ways – we want to acknowledge the harm this has caused, address what happened and apologise to all.
One of our guests, John Davidson MBE has Tourette Syndrome and has devoted his life to educating and campaigning for better understanding of the condition. John is an executive producer of one of the nominated films, “I Swear.” The film highlights that Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disability that causes involuntary verbal tics, that the individual has no control over. Such tics are in no way a reflection of an individual’s beliefs and are not intentional.
We take the duty of care to all our guests very seriously and prepared extensively in order for John to be able to be present in the room. We made those in attendance aware of the tics, announcing to the audience before the ceremony began, and throughout, that John was in the room and that they may hear involuntary strong and offensive language, noises or movements during the ceremony. We fully understand our intention to be inclusive in no way diminishes the impact of what happened.
Early in the ceremony loud and involuntary tics, including one in the form of a profoundly offensive term, were heard by many people in the room. Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage at the time, and we have apologised unreservedly to them, and to all those impacted. We have also thanked Michael and Delroy for their incredible dignity and professionalism – and regret they were put in this position in the first place.
During the ceremony, John chose to leave the auditorium and watch the rest of the ceremony from a screen, and we have also thanked him for his dignity and consideration of others, on what should have been a night of celebration for him.
We are in contact with the studios involved and conversations are ongoing.
We want to assure all our members that a comprehensive review is underway. You may have also seen the BBC have issued their own apology for the broadcast.
It was a very complex situation and we understand you will have many questions – please rest assured how seriously we are taking this. If you’d like to contact us, please email membership@bafta.org.
We take full responsibility for putting our guests and members of the academy in a very difficult situation and we will learn from this.
We will keep inclusion at the core of all we do, maintaining our belief in film and storytelling as a critical conduit for compassion and empathy – as firmly demonstrated by this year’s nominated and winning films.
