A racial slur was edited out of the Baftas ceremony before it was broadcast, but another one aired in error, the BBC’s chief content officer has said.
Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson shouted the N-word when US actors Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage on Sunday.
The shout was audible in the broadcast, although many viewers would have struggled to make out the word.
BBC content chief Kate Phillips emailed staff on Tuesday, reiterating the BBC’s apology for not editing it out of the broadcast, adding: “We understand how distressing this was.”
Phillips confirmed other instances of offensive language had been removed, telling staff: “The edit team removed another racial slur from the broadcast.”
In contrast, the slur shouted when Lindo and Jordan were on stage “was aired in error and we would never have knowingly allowed this to be broadcast”, she said.
The use of the N-word on any BBC television programme is very rare and usually requires sign-off from a channel controller.
The Bafta ceremony was shown on BBC One with a two-hour delay, with producers editing the show to fit its two-hour slot.
BBC News understands the producers overseeing the ceremony for the BBC were in a TV truck and did not hear the slur shouted when Lindo and Jordan were on stage. Davidson was not on the mic or on stage at the time.
Phillips added: “Award attendees were pre-warned about the possibility of involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome at the start of the show, and [host] Alan Cumming addressed it during the broadcast.
“Of course, this doesn’t lessen the impact and upset.”
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com
