The BBC's Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) will complete a "fast-tracked investigation" after reviewing coverage of Sunday night's British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Film Awards that included a racial slur, saying it was a "serious mistake".
Tourette's campaigner John Davidson could be heard shouting as Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the award for Special Visual Effects during the ceremony at London's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The BBC has been reviewing what happened at BAFTA on Sunday evening.
"This was a serious mistake and the Director-General (Tim Davie) has instructed the Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) to complete a fast-tracked investigation and provide a full response to complainants."
Additionally, on Wednesday, Britain's Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMS) wrote to outgoing BBC Director-General Davie "seeking an explanation" for how a racial slur ended up in the broadcast "in spite of a two-hour time delay".
Referencing controversial Glastonbury Festival coverage last summer, Chair of the CMS Committee Caroline Dinenage said the "latest incident raises questions about the extent to which lessons have been learned and about the controls and systems you have in place to prevent such incidents".
Campaigner Davidson was at the BAFTAs representing the film I Swear, which tells the story of the Scottish campaigner's life with Tourette syndrome, which he developed when he was 12.
In an interview with the US entertainment trade publication Variety, he said the BBC should have "worked harder" to ensure his racial slur was not broadcast.
He told the publication: "BAFTA had made us all aware that any swearing would be edited out of the broadcast.
"I have made four documentaries with the BBC in the past and feel that they should have been aware of what to expect from Tourette's, and worked harder to prevent anything that I said - which, after all, was some 40 rows back from the stage - from being included in the broadcast."
Davidson said his tics began as "noises and movements" on the night but worsened as he became more nervous.
He said that when his coprolalia, which can cause involuntary swearing and inappropriate language, emerged, "my stomach just dropped".
He also told Variety that he shouted other offensive words during the ceremony and asked that reports reflect that there were multiple tics across the night, rather than focusing on one word alone.
Warner Bros, the studio behind Sinners, is also believed to have raised immediate concerns about the racial slur and requested it be removed from the BBC broadcast, the Press Association understands, but it could still be heard when it aired two hours later.
The BBC has apologised for not editing the racial slur out of the broadcast and subsequently removed it from the version on the BBC iPlayer.
BAFTA also issued an apology in the aftermath, in which it said it wished to "apologise unreservedly" to the actors who were on stage as well as "all those impacted".
It added: "During the ceremony, John chose to leave the auditorium and watch the rest of the ceremony from a screen, and we would like to thank him for his dignity and consideration of others on what should have been a night of celebration for him.
"We take full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation and we apologise to all. We will learn from this and keep inclusion at the core of all we do, maintaining our belief in film and storytelling as a critical conduit for compassion and empathy."
During the broadcast, the awards ceremony's presenter, Alan Cumming, also apologised for the language viewers may have heard.
In a statement to the Press Association on Monday, Davidson said: "I am, and always have been, deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning."
Source: Press Association
