Delroy Lindo has spoken out following a controversial moment at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards that quickly drew widespread attention. An offensive outburst interrupted his onstage appearance. The actor later addressed how organizers handled the situation.
Delroy Lindo addresses racial slur incident at BAFTA
At the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards, John Davidson shouted the N-word at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo while they were presenting the award for best visual effects to Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Davidson, who has Tourette syndrome, attended as the subject of the nominated biopic I Swear. Speaking afterward at a BAFTA after-party, Lindo told Vanity Fair that he and Jordan “did what we had to do” and added he wished “someone from BAFTA spoke to us afterward.”
Davidson’s condition causes involuntary vocal tics, and he shouted multiple outbursts during the ceremony, including “shut the f**k up” and “f**k you” (via Variety). Floor managers warned guests seated near Davidson about his condition. Sources said BAFTA did not contact nominees or attendees ahead of the show with specific warnings.
Host Alan Cumming addressed the incident onstage, stating, “You may have noticed some strong language in the background. This can be part of how Tourette’s syndrome shows up for some people as the film explores that experience.”
Cumming later added, “Tourette’s Syndrome is a disability and the tics you’ve heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette’s Syndrome has no control over their language. We apologize if you are offended tonight.” Despite the ceremony airing on a tape delay, the slur remained audible in the BBC broadcast.
After pulling the BAFTA Film Awards from iPlayer, a BBC spokesperson said, “Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards. This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional. We apologize that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”
Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on ComingSoon.net.
