Sinners star Delroy Lindo has spoken in more detail about the N-word controversy at the Baftas, which saw the BBC and Bafta apologise after a racial slur shouted by Tourette syndrome (TS) activist John Davidson was broadcast on BBC One in the edited highlights of the ceremony.
Lindo, who is nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in the film, was speaking to Tonya Mosley on NPR’s Fresh Air podcast, and said that at first he didn’t take in what had happened as he took to the stage to present an award with fellow Sinners star Michael B Jordan.
“You have to understand, we had jobs to do. We were the first presenters of the evening, and we had to read that teleprompter … There was a nanosecond, a nano of a nano of a nanosecond, when I’m thinking: ‘Wait, did I just hear what I thought I heard?’ But then, and it truly was a nanosecond, one had to read the teleprompter and get on with presenting the award.”
Lindo said he discussed the situation with Jordan, who he says had a “similar response”, adding: “And we went on and did our jobs.”
In a statement to the UK parliament’s culture, media and sport committee, BBC director general Tim Davie said that “we understand the hurt and shock that the mistake caused” and that the slur “should never have been broadcast”.
Davie added that the evidence gathered so far by the BBC indicated that the reason it was left in was due to confusion with a similar slur that Davidson shouted as Lindo’s Sinners co-star Wunmi Mosaku received the best supporting actress award. According to Davie, this second slur was removed immediately, but the edit team were unaware of the first one, and so believed mistakenly that instructions to remove slurs had been carried out.
Davie also addressed the time it took to take down the broadcast from the BBC’s iPlayer platform, saying that producers initially believed the slur was inaudible and it wasn’t until the following morning that the issue was reinvestigated, with the BBC’s chief content officer Kate Phillips authorising the show’s deletion at 11.47am.
Davidson was at the Bafta ceremony as I Swear, a film inspired by his life story, was nominated for a number of awards. He has apologised for a number of slurs he shouted during the event, including the one involving Lindo and Jordan, saying he “can’t begin to explain how upset and distraught I have been”.
In the Fresh Air interview, Lindo also discussed his background as a child of Windrush-generation immigrants in England, where he lived until emigrating, as a teenager, to Canada and then the US. Lindo said: “The people of Windrush changed the definition of what it means to be British. There are all these black and brown people, members of what used to be called the British Commonwealth, and they were invited by the British government to come to England, the United Kingdom, to help rebuild the United Kingdom in the aftermath of the destruction of world war two … They helped rebuild the construction industry, transportation industry, critically, the health industry, the National Health Service. My mom was a nurse.”
Previously, Lindo referred to the Bafta incident on Sunday at the Actor Awards, saying “we appreciate all the support and love that we have been shown”. In the immediate aftermath of the Bafta incident, he told a journalist from Vanity Fair that he wished “someone from Bafta spoke to us afterwards”.
