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," it continued, adding that Bafta 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." In its statement summarising the findings, Bafta said its planning and processes had "not kept pace" with its diversity and inclusion goals. It added work was under way to address specific areas of improvement recommended in the review to reduce the risk of a similar incident in future.
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.
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