It hurt when the N-word was shouted out at the Baftas – but we are also hearing it so much outside

Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo on stage at the Baftas, London, 22 February 2026. Photograph: Stuart Wilson/Bafta/Getty Images for Bafta

At the outset of the Baftas, the gilded crowd anticipated historic wins, emotional speeches and enjoying the familiar glow of a cultural institution congratulating itself on progress – whether fully warranted or not.

Then, as proceedings began and as Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo, two of the leading actors of our time, stood on stage, there was the N-word – shouted from the audience by John Davidson, a Tourette syndrome campaigner who also lives with TS and is the inspiration for the Bafta-winning film I Swear.