“I’d like to make clear: although the racial slur was symptomatic of a disability and an involuntary tic, it should never have been broadcast. It was a genuine mistake, and we take full responsibility for our error.”
BBC Director General, Tim Davie has written a letter to Dame Caroline Dinenage the chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee following the broadcast of a racial slur during the BAFTA Awards while Sinners actors, Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage.
Tourette’s campaign, John Davison, was in the audience because his life story inspired the film I Swear. He’s spent his life campaigning and educating people about the Tourettes.
Scottish actor, Alan Cumming had apologised to the audience from the stage at the time for the language heard during the ceremony and wrote on Instagram:
“I’m so sorry for all the pain Black people have felt hearing the word echoed around the world. I’m so sorry the Tourettes community has been reminded of the lack of understanding and tolerance that abounds regarding their condition.”
Today Davie was responding to how the slur was broadcasting on the BBC and how it remained on the iPlayer platform.
“The BBC has apologised for the serious mistake that was made, in allowing a racial slur to be broadcast and then remain on iPlayer overnight and into Monday morning. We understand the hurt and shock that the mistake caused,” he wrote.
The Committee put 4 questions to the Director General, the first was: Why was the language not edited out prior to the ceremony being broadcast, especially given edits were reportedly made to other parts of the programme?
To which he responded:
“A racial slur was initially shouted from the audience as Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the first award of the evening. Although this is the subject of ongoing review, our initial evidence gathering has found that no-one in the on-site edit truck heard this when they were watching the live feed. Because no-one in the broadcast truck was aware it was on the live feed, there was therefore no editorial decision made to leave the language in.
“The second occasion the slur was shouted was during the second award of the evening, when Wunmi Mosaku accepted her Best Supporting Actress award. In that instance, the edit team did hear the racial slur on the feed and removed it immediately from the version of the ceremony that would be broadcast later that evening. This was in line with protocols and procedures that were in place for this event – which I explain more in answer to your second question below.
“These two incidents happened within ten minutes of each other. It appears that soon after the second incident, the edit team in the truck started receiving reports, including from BAFTA, that a racial slur had been shouted during the ceremony. Our understanding at this point is that the team editing the show in the truck mistakenly believed they had edited out the incident that was being referenced, on the basis that they had heard and edited out the slur shouted out during the Best Supporting Actress award. Therefore, when they were told a racial slur had been shouted, they believed they had removed it.
“Other edits were made to the ceremony before broadcast – some were made in line with the protocols we had put in place in advance to deal with offensive language. Other edits were made for other purposes – for example length of speeches to cut the show to its allotted broadcast slot. This is standard practice for live events and awards shows of this nature.
“Following broadcast on BBC One, further reports, including on social media, drew attention to the first instance of the racial slur. Our current understanding is that the on-site team did not believe that the slur was audible on the broadcast, and the show remained on iPlayer unedited that evening.
“Following further discussion about the incident overnight, the decision for the ceremony to remain on iPlayer was reviewed, and on Monday morning the issue was escalated to the Chief Content Officer, who authorised the removal of the broadcast from iPlayer. The iPlayer team began revocation process with the programme down at 11.47.
“We are now looking in more detail why the team did not ascertain sooner that there had been two instances of the use of the racial slur, and why post broadcast further action was not taken to edit or remove the programme from iPlayer.”
The second question was what systems the BBC had in place to prevent the broadcasting of such language and while they’d failed in this case.
“There is well established guidance that exists in relation to the broadcast of strong and offensive language – for the BBC and for all broadcasters. Context and timing are critical.
“The BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code require strong editorial justification on the use of the strongest language.
“In addition, there are particular rules about broadcast before the watershed. Turning to the BAFTAs specifically, as with any broadcast of a live event, contingency plans were made in advance.
“In this instance, BAFTA had discussed with the BBC John Davidson’s attendance, and the arrangements that should be put in place to mitigate the risk associated with his Tourette’s Syndrome. The BBC agreed in advance the following mitigations with BAFTA:
“The audience in the auditorium were briefed in advance of the awards about John’s presence and the possibility of verbal tics.
“Lines were prepared for the host Alan Cumming to read from the stage in case of an incident of offensive language.
“Bleep or dip the strongest language whilst aiming to keep as much of the ceremony and the speeches unedited.
“If there were any involuntary racial tics or hate speech, this would be edited out.
“If there was any swearing aimed at a particular person in the room or on the stage, this would be edited out.”
The third question referred to the Bob Vylan set at Glastonbury and what lessons the BBC had learned and why they weren’t applied here.
READ MORE – BBC must be beyond ‘chilling’ reach of politicians, ex-boss claims amid Bob Vylan row
“After the events at Glastonbury occurred last summer, we conducted a full review of the protocols around the streaming of live music events, as a result of which any music performances deemed high risk are no longer broadcast or streamed live. Although those protocols were related to live music events, our preparation for the BAFTA awards included a number of the steps that had been clarified in those new protocols – specifically, Editorial Policy support was on site to improve compliance processes and the speed of available advice,” wrote Davie.
Finally he was asked what steps were being taken to prevent any similar incidents:
“We are now looking in more detail into why we did not pick up sooner that there had been two instances of the use of the racial slur, and why, post the broadcast, further action was not taken to edit or remove the programme from iPlayer.
“The BBC will learn lessons from this incident and ensure appropriate action is taken to avoid such an incident happening again.”
