The dust has not yet settled on the Baftas N-word row. This is why | Peter Bradshaw

Tue, 24 Feb 2026

When John Davidson involuntarily shouted racial abuse at Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan it set off two sets of alarm bells that should have been heeded much quicker and better

• BBC apologises to staff over N-word inclusion as Bafta announces comprehensive review

• Sinners studio say they raised N-word use with Bafta immediately as Google ‘deeply sorry’ for offensive notification

• Bafta judge quits over ‘utterly unforgivable’ handling of Tourette N-word incident

• BBC producers say they ‘didn’t hear’ N-word slur as ‘working in a truck’

• With N-word incident, Bafta have shot themselves in the foot

If you wanted to write a scabrous, over-the-top satire on liberal attitudes, you could hardly do better than use this weekend’s Bafta ceremony. As the end result of progressive, sensitive intentions, a white man sat in the audience yelling the N-word at two highly respected performers of colour – who were then instantly burdened with expected forgiveness. It would make a great novel from Paul Beatty or film from Spike Lee. And yet, the problem was not just the N-word, but the S-word – sooorrr-eeee. Of which, more in a moment.

Of course, it is complicated. A case of competing sensitivities and the now livewire issue of omissions, snubs and complicity-through-silence.