Michael B Jordan was left ‘disgusted’ after being subjected to a racial slur on stage while presenting at the Baftas.
On Sunday night the American actor presented the first award of the night alongside his Sinners co-star Delroy Lindo.
As the pair prepared to hand out the best visual effects award to Avatar: Fire and Ash, Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson was heard shouting the N-word, which prompted gasps across the audience in London’s Royal Festival Hall.
Following the incident, the BBC removed the entire awards ceremony broadcast from iPlayer after facing backlash for not cutting the moment – despite it removing a director’s plea to ‘Free Palestine’ elsewhere in the broadcast.
Soon after Lindo told Vanity Fair that he and Jordan ‘did what we had to do’ while presenting, but that he also wished ‘someone from Bafta spoke to us afterward.’
However, a source has now told Metro that Jordan, 39, was left ‘repulsed by the outburst’.
‘Michael had to do extensive research into the horrific psychological effects of racism to prepare for Sinners so was disgusted, repulsed and grossed out by John’s outburst,’ they told us.
Ryan Coogler’s horror film Sinners is set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta and stars Jordan in dual roles as criminal identical twin brothers who return to their hometown in the Jim Crow South, where they are confronted by a supernatural evil.
‘He read works by savants like Joy DeGruy Leary to prepare for the role, so the incident really reminded him about how much work has to be done to drive racism underground,’ the source continued.
‘He was having a difficult day already after finding out about an upsetting incident in the Atlanta area recently, so this just made it worse. But, he is having a great year and won’t let this stop him. He’s focused on his new movie The Thomas Crown Affair.’
However, after watching the event unfold, the actor’s parents were left shaken.
‘His mum and dad broke down in tears when they saw what happened to him and Delroy, and it has been a horrible 48 hours for the family,’ they explained.
‘Michael’s community in Newark was part of the Great Migration, which literally happened because Black people were being terrorised in the South. Seeing Michael and Delroy being called that word up there really hurt their loved ones, and so everyone is trying their best to support each other.
‘He postponed some plans in London to spend time with his parents as he recovers.’
The day after the awards, Davidson issued an apology saying he was ‘deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.’
During an apology at the ceremony, Bafta host Alan Cumming addressed the outburst, thanking attendees for their ‘understanding’ and ‘helping create a respectful space for everyone’.
Throughout Sunday night’s show, Davidson, who was diagnosed at the age of 25 and whose symptoms include outbursts such as swearing, could be heard yelling out from his seat.
At one point, he shouted, ‘shut the f**k up’ during a speech from Bafta chair Sara Putt and yelled ‘f**k you’ when Arco’s directors took to the stage, as well as several reported shouts of the N-word, including the broadcast one during Jordan and Lindo’s moment onstage.
Following the removal of the broadcast from iPlayer, a BBC spokesperson addressed the ‘strong and offensive language’, saying it ‘arose from involuntary verbal tics’ that were ‘not intentional’.
‘We apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer,’ they added.
The national broadcaster later went on to issue a direct apology to Jordan and Lindo.
‘Our guests heard very offensive language that carries incomparable trauma and pain for so many,’ its statement to The Hollywood Reporter began. ‘We want to acknowledge the harm this has caused, address what happened and apologise to all.’
It then went on to reference the ‘profoundly offensive term was heard by many people in the room’.
‘Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage at the time, and we apologise unreservedly to them, and to all those impacted. We would like to thank Michael and Delroy for their incredible dignity and professionalism,’ the statement continued.
‘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.’
On Sunday, Sinners became the most-decorated movie from a Black director in the show’s history – winning best supporting actress for Wunmi Mosaku, best original score for Ludwig Göransson, and best original screenplay for Coogler, making him the first Black winner in the category.
The result comes after it had also received 13 BAFTA nods – the most ever for a film directed by a Black filmmaker.
Last month it also pulled in a record breaking 16 Oscar nominations, with Coogler calling the sweep ‘pretty crazy’.
Metro has contacted representatives for Michael B Jordan for comment.
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