The BBC's complaints department has ruled that the broadcast of racist slurs during the Bafta awards ceremony violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines. John Davidson, who inspired the Bafta-nominated film 'I swear', was heard shouting 'Shut up' and 'Fuck you' during the gala. When Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the award for best visual effects to 'Avatar: Fire and ash', Davidson also shouted the n-word.
The statements were not edited out of the subsequent TV broadcast, which aired with a two-hour delay. The complaints department, which received a large number of complaints, says this should not have been broadcast and that it was a clear breach of the guidelines, but notes the violation was not intentional.