Just seven months after the British Academy faced one of its biggest controversies in recent years after the N-word was shouted at the BAFTA Film awards ceremony, BAFTA has been forced to revisit that moment as it deals with the upcoming BAFTA Scotland awards.
In an incident that significantly marred the 2026 awards ceremony on Feb. 22, Tourette syndrome activist and “I Swear” movie muse John Davidson unintentionally shouted racial slurs as Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage to present the first award of the night.
“I Swear” received seven BAFTA Scotland nominations, the most in the awards history. Following Thursday’s announcement, a letter was sent to members by chairman Sara Putt and chief executive Jane Millichip confirming that significant consideration had been made to allow Davidson to attend the ceremony in Glasgow on 15 November.
He said consultations had been held with Davidson and organizations such as BAFTA, Tourettes Action and Tourette Scotland. “Following these conversations and our wider risk assessment, we have made arrangements to enable John to attend as he suggested to us, meaning he will be able to watch the ceremony via video link from a separate comfortable area within the venue with his family and friends,” the statement said.
An independent review commissioned by BAFTA following the incident concluded there were “a number of structural weaknesses in BAFTA’s planning, escalation procedures and crisis coordination arrangements”, but found no evidence of “malicious intent” or “institutional racism”.
The review was highlighted in a letter to members on Thursday, saying the British Academy had since “worked extensively and consulted widely” to learn from what happened and the “racial harm experienced by our community” and to make its awards “as inclusive and safe as possible”.
See the full letter below.
With the BAFTA Awards season currently underway, with the Cymru Awards taking place on Sunday, followed by the Scottish Awards in November, we wanted to take the opportunity to update you on the work BAFTA has undertaken since the Film Awards earlier this year.
An independent review commissioned by the Board of Directors in March identified specific areas for improvement. Since then, the BAFTA team has worked hard and consulted widely on best practice to learn from the events of February and the racial harm experienced by our community, and to make our Awards events as inclusive and safe as possible.
We have strengthened and centralized our protection, risk assessment and compliance processes, creating a more connected, intersectional and cross-organisational approach to live event planning. We’ve also simplified ways to communicate and escalate so concerns get to the right people quickly, and strengthened briefings for everyone who works with us, including hosts, presenters, and quote readers.
With all our guests in mind, we sought independent advice from a variety of experts on best practices for inclusivity and accessibility. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach and adjustments should always be specifically designed; Our planning will therefore aim to better understand individual needs and consider how this can be supported, as well as the safety and dignity of everyone involved. Where regulations are possible, we will work closely with individuals supported by experienced access coordinators to comply with them.
We recognize that rebuilding trust requires more than changing processes. The review also challenged us to strengthen BAFTA’s cultural understanding and capacity. We have worked with organizations and experts with experience in race, disability, inclusion and international cultural context, and are developing further training for our staff. This work continues.
We have worked with both safeguarding and inclusion experts to consider the arrangements necessary to ensure the safest possible attendance for everyone at the upcoming BAFTA Scotland Awards, for which I Swear has received seven nominations, is John Davidson MBE, whose life inspired I Swear and who is the film’s Executive Producer.
We consulted organizations such as Tourettes Action and Tourette Scotland and, most importantly, we speak directly to John. Following these conversations and our wider risk assessment, we made arrangements for John to watch the ceremony with his family and friends via video link from a separate comfortable area within the venue, as he had suggested to us.
John has Tourette Syndrome and experiences coprolalia, a type of vocal tic that involves the involuntary utterance of socially inappropriate words or phrases. Like all tics, these vocalizations are neurological in origin, occur outside the person’s control, and do not reflect the person’s views, beliefs, character, or intentions.
At the same time, we recognize that involuntary vocal tics that include words relating to race, religion, sexuality or other protected characteristics can cause distress and harm to others and that it is BAFTA’s responsibility to plan for and mitigate such impacts on our guests.
We take this very seriously. These changes reflect a broader principle we have incorporated into our Awards planning: listening to people about their needs, preparing carefully and creating an environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
We know that no live event can be completely risk-free. We will continue to test our processes, review how they work in practice and be responsible for their improvement. We will do everything we can to make sure every guest feels safe, welcome and included in our Rewards.
Thank you to the members, committees, advisors, community organizations, and outside experts who challenge us, share their experiences, and help us improve.
Best wishes
Sara and Jane