Jamie Foxx, Jemele Hill Speak Out After Racist Slur at BAFTAs

Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan were front-and-center for an offensive moment at the 2026 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) in London. A man yelled the n-word as the two celebrated Black actors were onstage together to present an award. The clip of the moment went viral immediately, and stars like Jamie Foxx have voiced criticism over Tourette syndrome (TS) activist John Davidson’s outbursts at the awards show on Sunday, Feb. 22.

Davidson attended the BAFTAs as I Swear, the film inspired by his life of dealing with TS, was up for several awards. He could be heard several times shouting during the ceremony.

In the comments on a video shared by The Neighborhood Talk, Oscar-winner Foxx shared his reaction. “Nah, he meant that s***,” Foxx wrote, before adding, "unacceptable."

BAFTAs host Alan Cumming tried to explain the situation.

“Tourette syndrome is a disability, and the tics you’ve heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette syndrome has no control over their language,” he said during the show. “We apologize if you are offended tonight.”

Sinners’ production designer Hannah Beachler shared on X that a slur had been directed at her, and criticized the in-show apology. 

“I keep trying to write about what happened at the BAFTAs, and I can't find the words,” she said in a string of posts on X. “The situation is almost impossible, but it happened three times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show. And a third time at a Black woman. I understand and deeply know why we must handle this with grace and continue to push through. But what made the situation worse was the throwaway apology of ‘if you were offended’ at the end of the show. Of course we were offended... but our frequency, our spiritual vibration is tuned to a higher level than what happened. I am not steel; this did not bounce off of me, but I exist above it. It can't take away from who I am as an artist.”

More criticism came from several notables on social media. 

“Black people are just supposed to be ok with being disrespected and dehumanised so that other people don’t feel bad,” Jemele Hill wrote. “It’s infuriating that the first reaction wasn’t complete and full throatted [sic] apologies to Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan,” added actor Wendell Pierce as he shared Hill’s post. “The insult to them takes priority. It doesn’t matter the reasoning for the racist slur.”

A spokesperson for the BBC issued a statement. 

“Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the Bafta film awards 2026. This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and was not intentional. We apologize for any offense caused by the language heard.”