Bafta doubles down on preparations for Sunday TV awards after N-word fallout | Baftas
At the glitzy Bafta TV Awards, stars’ red carpet outfits and winners’ acceptance speeches often receive the most scrutiny.
But this Sunday, those behind the show will be watching with bated breath and taking the incident “extremely seriously” after changes were made to how TV broadcasts of Bafta’s awards ceremonies are handled following the broadcast of racially offensive remarks during the Bafta film awards in February.
A BBC source said: “TV awards day is usually sunny, but the heat will be felt even more this year until the end credits roll and reactions on social media are checked.”
At the event in February, actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were presenting awards on stage when microphones caught John Davidson, who has Tourette syndrome, involuntarily using the N-word from his seat in the audience. The film I Swear, inspired by Davidson’s experiences with TS, was awarded several awards.
Presenter Alan Cumming quickly apologized and the word, later repeated by Davidson, had to be edited as the Baftas were filmed in a delayed manner. However, the production crew (who were in a truck outside the ceremony venue) did not hear about the earlier incident and only edited out that Davidson had used it a second time.
The incident led Bafta to review its plans and procedures and apologize “unreservedly”. There was also a review and apology from the BBC; The BBC aired the program and admitted that it had breached its own editorial standards in airing the N-word and also made a “serious mistake” in not removing the footage from iPlayer until the next morning, which “aggravated the offence”.
But as the Bafta make final preparations to celebrate the best of British television – with Netflix’s hit series Adolescence leading the way with 11 nominations and excitement expected from the BBC’s Amandaland and The Celebrity Traitors and Channel 4’s Gaza: Doctors Under Attack – the pressure has intensified again after Cumming’s interview in The Times.
He claimed the incident in February was due to “bad leadership…bad people who didn’t do their job properly, didn’t really prepare and let people down” and said he told his manager he didn’t want to host the event again.
But comedian Greg Davies, presenter of this year’s TV awards, also told The Times: “I’m sure they’ve taken it upon themselves to make sure everyone has a good time… I’m not expecting any surprises but if it happens, it’s fine, we’ll take it.”
Bafta is understood to be taking Sunday’s show “extremely seriously”, with additional staff on hand to help quickly escalate any issues that may arise during the ceremony to production partner Penny Lane, whose two bosses will attend the show as usual, and the BBC, who will be joined by senior executives.
2,000 guests are expected to attend the TV awards, including Claudia Winkleman, Jessica Gunning, Paapa Essiedu, Richard Osman, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Hassell, Stephen Graham and Ashley Walters; The event at London’s Royal Festival Hall is an extremely complex affair.
Despite its international reputation, Bafta is an arts charity and its events team is relatively small. However, sources said that following Bafta and BBC reviews of the program in February, Bafta was “working closely with Penny Lane and the BBC” to ensure clear communication protocols were established and shared.
The Guardian understands that the programme, which will be watched by viewers on their home screens, will be watched more closely than in the past and any events will be recorded along with those in the auditorium. This can be communicated via WhatsApp and a “talkback” system that allows the crew to communicate via headsets with the producers in the production truck who are directing and editing the show. Issues will be numbered or time coded and cross-referenced and followed up with a phone call or in person if necessary.
Complicating matters further, although the three-hour awards ceremony began before the BBC broadcast it (so that edits could be made), at the end of the two-hour program that viewers saw on screen, the production team edited it almost, but not entirely, live and in real time, as the speeches took too long and some award presentations were cut short by time.
An insider asked: “Is it still on iPlayer?” he asked the question. Additionally, if any negativity is broadcast during the ceremony, it will be on everyone’s mind and a call will be made to the chain of command regarding removal from service. The BBC’s editorial rules state: “All members of the production team of a live program should be clear about who has final editorial control” and “who is monitoring the output… If a significant risk is identified, the proposed live output should normally be referred to a senior editorial person.”
Bafta recently had the chance to retest its event management procedures at its successful, though unbroadcast, games and crafts awards ceremonies. It is understood talks have already been held with Penny Lane about next year’s film awards, but those plans are expected to take shape depending on how the TV awards go on Sunday.
Alongside the “full apology” issued by the organisation, a Bafta spokesman said “we have taken measures to strengthen and improve our processes. We are focused on delivering a truly great event on Sunday night”.
