Warner Bros. Complained About BAFTA Racial Slur & Requested BBC Cut

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. raised immediate concerns about the involuntary racial slur directed at the stars of Sinners during the BAFTA Film Awards, requesting that the incident be removed from the BBC broadcast, Deadline can reveal.

A well-placed source told Deadline that Warner Bros. executives made a complaint to BAFTA within minutes of Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson‘s N-word verbal tic. This person said the studio received assurances that its concerns would be passed to the BBC and producer Penny Lane TV during the recording of the ceremony, which was broadcast on a two-hour time delay.

The source’s account raises questions about the version of events given by the BBC and Penny Lane, which was that producers in the gallery were not aware of what had been said until it was too late, meaning that the outburst directed at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo was screened on BBC One.

BAFTA insiders acknowledged that conversations with Warner Bros. took place. Deadline asked BAFTA whether Warner Bros.’ concerns were relayed to the BBC and Penny Lane, but the organization declined to comment.

On Monday, BAFTA apologized for the “very offensive language” during the event and said it took “full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation.” BAFTA’s statement did not, however, address why the racial slur wasn’t excised from the BBC broadcast.

Penny Lane declined to comment, but Deadline understands that the production company stands by its position that the crew in the gallery did not hear Davidson’s outburst. The BBC declined to comment, but sources at the broadcaster have supported Penny Lane’s account. Warner Bros. declined to comment.

Warner Bros. is said to be skeptical of the BBC and Penny Lane’s version of events and considers the explanation inadequate, given the gravity of the concerns it raised on the night. Even setting aside Warner’s complaint, sources in the Royal Festival Hall auditorium said Davidson’s interruption was clearly audible in the room, with sources questioning why an urgent message was not sent to the gallery.

“For their story to be true, it means that nobody in the room mentioned it to the BBC or BAFTA in the two hours between the incident and it airing. That’s just not possible,” a senior independent producer told Deadline.

Warner Bros. is understood to have been in contact with BAFTA repeatedly during the evening, making the organization aware of other instances involving Davidson, including unintentional comments made to Sinners‘ production designer Hannah Beachler. A source told Deadline that Warner Bros.’ representations continued after the awards, with executives confronting BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip and chair Sara Putt at the post-show dinner.

The Hollywood studio resumed contact with BAFTA on Monday morning, as the arts charity was drafting a statement, which was eventually released at around 6PM local time. Warner Bros. is also said to have sought talks with the BBC amid alarm that the N-word incident remained on iPlayer, but sources said a meeting did not materialize.

The BBC removed the BAFTA Film Awards from iPlayer at around 11.30AM on Monday, nearly 15 hours after it was first broadcast. The ceremony remained unavailable to view on Tuesday morning as the BBC made edits to the tape.

In a statement on Monday, 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 apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”

The BBC is also coming under pressure from British lawmakers to explain how the racial slur was broadcast, even if it was not clearly audible. Labour MP Dawn Butler wrote to BBC boss Tim Davie demanding transparency. “The BBC could have prevented this, given that the programme was aired on a two-hour delay. It is disappointing that this language was not removed prior to transmission,” Butler said. “Now we need to understand why.”