The BBC, the BAFTAs and the N-word

Hello {{ first name | friends}},

By now, most of you have heard about the racial slur (the N-word) said by John Davidson MBE, a Scottish campaigner for Tourette Syndrome, at the BAFTAs when Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were on stage. The utterance of the slur is an example of coprolalia, the involuntary utterance of inappropriate and obscene words and phrases.

I made several attempts to write this piece, starting immediately after the incident I'm talking about was reported. It took a while because every time I started to write I got so enraged about the way it has been handled by all those who had the choice to do better and failed to take it. 

It would be wrong of me to attack John Davidson for something he had no control over. But that still doesn't absolve him of responsibility to acknowledge the impact of that word on the men whose moment was ruined, nor is he absolved from  making an unreserved apology for that impact after the harm had occurred.

And it definitely doesn't absolve the BAFTA organisers and host or the BBC of responsibility for how they handled it in the moment and after the event, which might best be described as an epic fail on multiple fronts.

What's most telling about the whole incident is whose feelings were prioritised immediately after the slur was uttered. Because it wasn't the Black men who'd felt the impact. You can see the moment Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo freeze before carrying on and doing what they were there to do. 

The host, Alan Cumming, apologised to the audience - the audience! 

I still have trouble fathoming how that was the decision he made. 

Because, whether intended or not, the harm done to both men by the racial abuse was and is real. The N-word wasn't and isn't innocuous, especially when uttered by someone racialised as white. (I personally would have it erased from existence, but that's another story.)

When you do harm, you apologise, even if the harm wasn't intended. That's what we teach our children. Why should we do any less as adults? And the impact of this tic was very, very harmful.

But nobody apologised to Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan in that moment. And according to Delroy Lindo, nobody from the BAFTAs organising team even spoke to him about it on the day it happened. 

The BBC later offered an inadequate and lukewarm "nopology" (a word coined by my sister Lisa Hurley) to anyone who might have been offended (sorry, Beeb, pretty much every Black person I've asked about it was offended and hurt - no "might" about it.)

Anyone Black in the audience, anyone Black watching, and anyone Black reading or hearing about it later will also have experienced harm, because so many of us - and multiple generations of our ancestors - have been attacked by that word.

The harm is compounded because of the way the “incident” was handled, if you could call it that; it reinforces the lack of safety and care many Black people experience in white majority spaces. And the level of accountability expected from white people - none.

At the time of writing, it was almost a day later when Davidson issued a kind of apology, albeit one that recognised no harm and accepted no responsibility, so why did he even bother? Yes, the tic was involuntary (and very embarrassing for him) but harm was done to the two men on stage so a proper apology is the only way to move forward, and well within his capacity.

Returning to the BBC's epic fail,  the decision to leave the N-word in the broadcast (even though there was enough of a delay for cutting it to be possible) is telling. Somehow there was time to edit out Akinola Davies Jr saying "Free Palestine" but not to remove the N-word?  

That was a choice - and the choice made says the BBC did not prioritise the wellbeing of the two presenters, nor that of the wider Black community. That choice significantly compounded the racial harm done and failed people in the disability  community too.

The harm didn't stop there, of course. Because here's what also annoys me: the people (mostly racialised as white) who are trying to silence and shame people (many racialised as Black) who have called out the hypocrisy of the Beeb and the BAFTAs.

Those mostly white commenters keep accusing Black people acknowledging the harm of being ableist, but disability activists confirm: recognising harm does not negate the fact he didn’t have control over his tics. It merely (rightfully) focuses on the receivers of the slur, and not the one who said it involuntarily.

This is white supremacist thinking in action and it is nonsense. Naming racial harm caused by a person with a disability  is not ableist or unreasonable; assuming he can’t understand the difference is. It's giving white centring and white tears. And it's NOT giving acknowledgement and repair  from those who caused harm, which, to be clear, is still due in this case.

Please, white folks, stop telling Black people how to feel about hearing the N-word in that context. If you are upset about our upset, you still have more learning and growing to do.

Now, there is no need for ableism in the naming. Two things are true: one, Tourettes is a disability. Two, in this instance it resulted in racial harm. At what should have been their proudest moment, those men heard the most hurtful slur, and many people expect them to smile and take it. That is patently wrong.

So I have questions about why so many people are ready and willing to excuse anti-Blackness. And about why Black people are often last in line for forgiveness but expected to be first in line to do the forgiving.

This is a case of selective or conditional empathy. We can hold space for disability and still state clearly that that inclusion does not mean that Black people should have to hear, accept or give grace for racial slurs. I mean, is it really that hard?

Thanks for reading my perspective.

Sharon

P.S. By the time this is published the organisations and people involved will no doubt have apologised properly, but that doesn't mitigate the original error because the delay itself is harmful.

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Sharon Hurley Hall is an anti-racism educator, author of I’m Tired of Racism, and founder of the SHHARE anti-racism community and of Sharon’s Anti-Racism Newsletter, which provides tools and lived experiences to fuel systemic change. A seasoned professional writer and journalist, she leverages over 30 years of experience to mentor introverted leaders, and is co-founder and co-host of the Introvert Sisters Podcast. Her recent work focuses on helping Black and Global Majority women achieve high-impact visibility and professional influence without the exhaustion of performing extroversion.

© Sharon Hurley Hall, 2026. All Rights Reserved. This newsletter is published on beehiiv (affiliate link).