Bafta fell short in duty of care when racial slur was shouted, review finds

Bafta fell short in its duty of care to guests, members and viewers when a racial slur was shouted at the film awards in February, but there was no malicious intent, an independent review has found.

Tourette's campaigner John Davidson involuntarily shouted the n-word while two black actors, Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo, were on stage at the ceremony.

In a statement responding to the report, Bafta said it did not "adequately anticipate or fully prepare for the impact of such an incident in a live event environment".

"As a result, our duty of care to everyone at the ceremony and watching at home fell short," Bafta said, adding the organisation has written to those who were affected to apologise directly.

The publication of the report follows the outcome of the BBC's own investigation into what led to the slur being broadcast, which was published earlier this week.

The corporation's complaints unit ruled the broadcast breached the BBC's editorial standards and should not have made it to air, but said it was not intentional.

On Friday, Bafta said it "apologised unreservedly" to the black community, the disabled community, and to all its members and guests at the ceremony and viewers watching at home.

"What was supposed to be a moment of celebration was diminished and overshadowed," the organisation said.

The independent review, carried out by Rise Associates, "identified a number of structural weaknesses in Bafta's planning, escalation procedures and crisis coordination arrangements," the organisation said.

"However, it did not find evidence of malicious intent on the part of those involved in delivering the event. We accept its conclusions in full."

Although not a failure of intent, Bafta said its planning and processes had not kept pace with its diversity and inclusion goals.

It added work was already under way to address specific areas of improvement recommended in the review to reduce the risk of a similar incident in future.

The organisation said it would:

• Improve its escalation processes and the "chain of information sharing" around awards ceremonies
• Strengthen how it plans access, inclusion and support at events so that the "needs and experiences of all are properly considered in advance"
• Address any internal cultural gaps or lack of knowledge that might prevent Bafta from meeting its diversity, equity and inclusion goals

The independent review said the circumstances of what happened had "involved a complex intersection of disability, live broadcast risk and the use of language with a profound and painful historical context".

The incident also highlighted a broader challenge, the review said - "the need to balance accessibility for participants with the safety and dignity of others in the room and watching at home".

However, the review said it would be "wrong to describe the event as evidence of institutional racism, as this misses an important point".

"Institutional racism means that racial bias is built into systems, policies, and culture. In such systems, discriminatory outcomes appear regardless of individual intent.

"The available evidence does not support that conclusion here. Instead, the evidence suggests something different. Bafta's planning and risk governance systems have not kept pace with its diversity goals."

Bafta ceremony host Alan Cumming previously apologised after the "trauma-triggering" show.

After the ceremony, Lindo told Vanity Fair that he and Jordan, who were handing out an award "did what we had to do" as they carried on presenting after the shout, but also said he wished "someone from Bafta spoke to us afterward".

In his own interview with Variety, Davidson said: "I want to be really clear that the intent behind them [the tics] is zero. What you're hearing is a symptom - not my character, not my thought, not my belief."

"Tourette's can feel spiteful and searches out the most upsetting tic for me personally and for those around me," he explained. "What you hear me shouting is literally the last thing in the world I believe; it is the opposite of what I believe.

"The most offensive word that I ticked at the ceremony, for example, is a word I would never use and would completely condemn if I did not have Tourette's."