Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Delroy Lindo processed the BAFTA n-word incident in a “nanosecond”.
The actor, 73, was on stage at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards in London when a racial slur was shouted from the audience by Tourette’s sufferer John Davidson as he and Michael B. Jordan, 39, were presenting on stage – but after a brief pause the pair proceeded with their hosting duties.
Delroy has now addressed the moment during an appearance on the NPR podcast Fresh Air with host Tonya Mosley.
Speaking during the interview, Delroy initially told Tonya he did not plan to discuss the moment.
Delroy said: “Can I stop you for one second? With all due respect.”
He continued: “With all due respect, I’m actually not going to talk about this.”
Delroy added with a laugh: “I’m laughing because in the intro when you said, ‘Oh, yes, we’ll be talking about what happened with BAFTA,’ I chuckled because I said, ‘No, we’re not’.”
Despite his initial reluctance, Delroy later described how he and Michael reacted during the presentation when the slur was shouted.
Delroy said he and Michael “both had similar responses”.
He explained: “You have to understand, we had jobs to do. We were the first presenters of the evening.
“And we had to read that teleprompter, and we both did exactly that.”
Delroy went on: “Now, a couple of people who know – my wife says that I adjusted my glasses, and she said she knew when I adjusted my glasses that something was happening internally.
“But there was a nanosecond when I’m thinking, ‘Wait, did I just hear what I thought I heard?’
“But then, and it truly was a nanosecond, one had to read the teleprompter and get on with presenting the award.“So, you know, there was no time at all. I processed in the way that I processed in a nanosecond, Mike did similarly, and we went on and did our jobs.”
Tourette syndrome advocate John, 54, shouted the n-word from the audience while attending the awards to represent the film I Swear, which is based on his life and experiences living with Tourette’s syndrome.
The organisation behind the BAFTA Film Awards later issued an apology to Delroy and Michael after the ceremony aired on the BBC with the incident still in the broadcast.
I Swear received awards for Best Leading Actor and Best Casting.
John began experiencing symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome — a neurological condition that causes involuntary verbal and physical tics — at the age of 12.
In a Facebook post published on 1 March addressing the incident, John said: “Whilst I will never apologise for having Tourette’s syndrome, I will apologise for any pain, upset and misunderstanding that it may create.”
John added: “This past week has been tough and it has reminded me that what I do raising awareness for such a misunderstood condition, there is still a long way to go and I will keep on keeping on until this is achieved.”
