The BBC's outgoing Director-General, Tim Davie, has said the corporation "profoundly regrets" the events around the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Film Awards when a racial slur was broadcast on BBC One.
During the awards ceremony, which was held on Sunday, 22 February, 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.
Last week, the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee in Westminster wrote to Davie "seeking an explanation" for how a racial slur ended up in the broadcast "in spite of a two-hour time delay".
In a response letter to Caroline Dinenage, Chair of the CMS Committee, Davie said: "I'd like to make clear: although the racial slur was symptomatic of a disability and an involuntary tic, it should never have been broadcast. It was a genuine mistake, and we take full responsibility for our error."
Responding to questions about the controversy, including why the language was not edited out prior to it being broadcast, Davie said there had been two incidents during which the slur was shouted.
Regarding the first incident, while Jordan and Lindo were on stage, he said: "Although this is the subject of ongoing review, our initial evidence gathering has found that no-one in the on-site broadcast truck heard this when they were watching the live feed.
"Because no-one in the broadcast truck was aware it was on the live feed, there was therefore no editorial decision made to leave the language in."
Davie wrote that the slur was shouted out for the second time as Sinners star Wunmi Mosaku accepted her award for Best Supporting Actress.
He said: "In that instance, the edit team did hear the racial slur on the feed and removed it immediately from the version of the ceremony that would be broadcast later that evening.
"These two incidents happened within 10 minutes of each other. It appears that soon after the second incident, the edit team in the truck started receiving reports, including from BAFTA, that a racial slur had been shouted during the ceremony.
"Our understanding at this point is that the team editing the show in the truck mistakenly believed they had edited out the incident that was being referenced, on the basis that they had heard and edited out the slur shouted out during the Best Supporting Actress award.
"Therefore, when they were told a racial slur had been shouted, they believed they had removed it."
"Following broadcast on BBC One, further reports, including on social media, drew attention to the first instance of the racial slur. Our current understanding is that the on-site team did not believe that the slur was audible on the broadcast, and the show remained on iPlayer unedited that evening," Davie continued.
"Following further discussion about the incident overnight, the decision for the ceremony to remain on iPlayer was reviewed, and on Monday morning the issue was escalated to the Chief Content Officer, who authorised the removal of the broadcast from iPlayer. The iPlayer team began revocation process with the programme down at 11.47.
"We are now looking in more detail why the team did not ascertain sooner that there had been two instances of the use of the racial slur, and why post broadcast further action was not taken to edit or remove the programme from iPlayer."
Davidson, whose Tourette's causes him to involuntarily shout out words, has since said he is "deeply mortified" by what happened at the BAFTAs, where I Swear, a film about his life and struggles, was among the winners.
BAFTA apologised after the film awards and said it took "full responsibility" for putting its guests in a "difficult situation".
In a letter to members, BAFTA Chair Sara Putt and Chief Executive Jane Millichip said a "comprehensive" review was under way, adding: "Please rest assured how seriously we are taking this."
Source: Press Association
