The BBC breached its editorial standards by broadcasting a racial slur during its delayed coverage of the BAFTA Film Awards in February, the corporation's Executive Complaints Unit has found.
The ECU said the language was "highly offensive" and had "no editorial justification", but concluded that the breach was unintentional.
The slur was heard as Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the award for Special Visual Effects at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
It was shouted by Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson, whose life inspired the film I Swear.
The BBC later apologised for failing to remove the language before transmission. The ceremony aired on a two-hour delay and the edited programme remained available on BBC iPlayer until the following morning before it was taken down.
In its report, the ECU said there had been a lack of clarity within the production team over whether the slur was audible on the recording. It said that uncertainty led to a delay in removing the programme from iPlayer, calling that a "serious mistake".
"The fact that the unedited recording remained available for so long aggravated the offence caused by the inadvertent inclusion of the N-word in the broadcast," the report said.
The ECU also considered complaints over the removal of the words "free Palestine" from the acceptance speech of Outstanding Debut winner Akinola Davies Jr.
It found that while Davies had been entitled to express his views, the edit did not breach editorial standards.
According to the report, the broadcast had to be cut from around three hours to fit a two-hour slot, and the decision to remove part of Davies's speech was based on editing priorities rather than impartiality.
It said the content of what was removed played no part in the decision, except that it was considered outside the main focus of the event.
The report also confirmed that the BBC's chief content officer had written letters of apology to Lindo, Jordan and Davidson.
At the time of the controversy, then director-general Tim Davie said the corporation "profoundly regrets" the incident and described it as "a genuine mistake" that should never have been broadcast.
The fallout prompted criticism of the BBC’s editorial safeguards, while BAFTA also apologised over the incident.
Davidson later said the broadcaster should have "worked harder" to ensure the slur was not included in the delayed broadcast.
I Swear won three awards on the night: Best Leading Actor and Rising Star for Robert Aramayo, who plays Davidson, and Best Casting.
Source: Press Association, Reuters
