‘Did I just hear what I thought I heard?’: Sinners’ Delroy Lindo on Bafta N-word controversy | film

Sinners star Delroy Lindo has spoken in more detail about the N-word controversy at the Baftas, which saw the BBC and BAFTA apologize after a racial slur shouted by Tourette’s Syndrome campaigner John Davidson was broadcast on BBC One in edited highlights of the ceremony.

Lindo, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in the film, was speaking to Tonya Mosley on NPR’s Fresh Air and said he initially couldn’t comprehend what had happened when he took to the stage to present an award with fellow Sinners star Michael B. Jordan.

“You have to understand, we had jobs to do. We were the first presenters of the evening, and we had to read that teleprompter… There was a nanosecond, nano nanosecond, when I would think: ‘Wait, did I just hear what I thought I heard?'” But then, and it really took a nanosecond, one had to read the teleprompter and go on to present the award.

Lindo said he discussed the situation with Jordan, who he said had a “similar response,” adding: “We carried on and did our job.”

In a statement to the UK Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee, BBC director-general Tim Davie said “we understand the pain and shock caused by the error” and that the slur “should never have been broadcast”.

Davie added that evidence gathered by the BBC so far suggested that the reason for her departure was due to confusion with similar slurs shouted by Davidson when her Lindo’s Sinners co-star, Wunmi Mosaku, was awarded best supporting actress. According to Davey, this second slur was removed immediately, but the editorial team was not aware of the first and therefore mistakenly believed that the instructions to remove the slur had been carried out.

Davie also spoke about the time it took to delete the broadcast from the BBC’s iPlayer platform, saying producers initially thought the slur was inaudible and the issue was only reinvestigated the following morning, with Kate Phillips, the BBC’s chief content officer, allowing the show to be deleted at 11.47am.

Davidson was present at the BAFTA ceremony where I Swear, a film based on his life story, was nominated for a number of awards. He apologized for a number of insults he shouted during the event, including one involving Lindo and Jordan, saying he “can’t begin to explain how upset and appalled I am.”

In the Fresh Air interview, Lindo also discussed his background as a child of the Windrush generation of immigrants in England, where he lived until, as a teenager, he immigrated to Canada and then the United States. “The Windrush people changed the definition of what it meant to be British,” Lindow said. “There were all these black and colored people, members of what was called the British Commonwealth, who were invited by the British government to come to England, the United Kingdom, to help rebuild the United Kingdom in the wake of the devastation of World War II… They helped rebuild the construction industry, the transport industry, and most importantly, the health industry, the National Health Service. My mother was a nurse.”

Lindo previously referred to the Bafta incident on Sunday during the Actors Awards ceremony, saying, “We appreciate all the support and love we have shown.” In the immediate aftermath of the Bafta incident, he told a Vanity Fair journalist that he wished “someone from Bafta would talk to us next”.