Dawn Butler Demands Answers After BBC Aired BAFTAs Slur Despite Two-Hour Delay

Now this is what pressure looks like.

Dawn Butler — Labour MP for Brent East, the first elected African-Caribbean UK minister, Chair of the London PLP, Vice Chair of the Women’s PLP, author and columnist — has publicly shared her letter to BBC Director General Tim Davie demanding answers over the BAFTAs broadcast.

And she did not mince words.

The @BBC should never have aired the N-word racist slur, directed at @michaelb4jordan & @authenticdelroy.

It had a two-hour delay!

This is painful & unforgivable.

I've requested an urgent explanation. pic.twitter.com/PuZuD6UI9e

— Dawn Butler ✊🏾💙 (@DawnButlerBrent) February 23, 2026

Butler pointed out what many of us have been screaming since Sunday night: the ceremony aired on a two-hour delay. The BBC had time to edit. They made editorial decisions. They removed part of Akinola Davies Jr.’s acceptance speech referencing migrants, conflict, and “free Palestine.” Yet they allowed an involuntary outburst containing the N-word – shouted during Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo’s presentation – to air nationally and internationally.

The slur came from John Davidson, the Tourette syndrome advocate whose life inspired the film I Swear. His condition includes involuntary verbal tics, something host Alan Cumming acknowledged during the ceremony. The audience applauded. The context was explained.

But none of that explains the edit.

In her letter, Butler challenges the BBC over the glaring contrast in its editorial choices, removing Akinola Davies Jr.’s political remarks while allowing a racial slur directed at two Black presenters to air nationwide. She highlights the visible shock on Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo’s faces and demands clarity on who approved that decision and on what grounds.

According to multiple sources, nominees and attendees were not contacted by BAFTA or the BBC in advance with any formal notification about what might occur. Lindo later said he wished someone from BAFTA had spoken to him and Jordan after the incident. That no one checked in with them in the aftermath is indefensible.

The BBC apologised for airing what it called “strong and offensive language,” saying the involuntary tic was not edited out before transmission. BAFTA said it “apologise[s] unreservedly” to Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, took “full responsibility,” and acknowledged placing guests in a “very difficult situation,” while maintaining the outburst was involuntary.

If political remarks can be neatly cut from a delayed broadcast, then it is fair to question why a racial slur made it through. It becomes even more troubling when Delroy Lindo has said no one explained to him or Michael B. Jordan what had just happened. The silence is glaring. Were organisers simply hoping the two men would stay quiet, or worse, react publicly and be branded “ableist” for demanding basic respect?

This is the tightrope: disability representation matters. Tourette’s advocacy matters. Davidson has expressed that he is “deeply mortified” that anyone would believe his tics were intentional or meaningful. That also matters.

What matters just as much is protection from racial harm, especially in a pre-recorded national broadcast where editorial control exists.

Butler’s intervention shifts the conversation back to the real issue: institutional responsibility. When you control the edit, you control the impact.

And right now, the BBC is being asked to explain exactly how it chose to use that power.